To Stop a War
by stormpix
Summary: Zeus is seriously annoyed. He doesn't like that the country personifications have some degree of control over the world that he was supposed to run. So, he declares war on the nations, deciding to wipe them out once and for all. To stop this war, Hera puts into motion yet another dangerous, risky plan.
1. Prologue: The Final Meeting

**Percy Jackson and the Olympians belongs to Rick Riordan, Hetalia belongs to Himaruya Hidekaz.**

* * *

**Prologue: The Final Meeting**

* * *

Heracles could hear the gods arguing and yelling as he walked up towards the throne room of Mount Olympus. The moment he entered, the room fell silent.

"Well, Heracles?" Zeus, king of the gods, said. "What is your decision? Do you side with us, or with the rest of your kind?"

Heracles hesitated before answering. Stroking his cat, he carefully chose his words as he spoke. "Sorry, Zeus. I can't abandon the others."

Zeus's face darkened. "Then this will be the last time we meet. From the moment you set foot outside of Olympus, you are forbidden to return or go to Camp Half-Blood until this conflict is over." Heracles nodded, his fingers never leaving his cat's soft fur.

"Then leave. You are an enemy now, Greece."

Slowly, Heracles Karpusi, also known as Greece, turned and walked out without another word. The gods inside the throne room broke into conversations/arguments again. The arguments soon turned violent, with Ares trying to throttle Athena and Hephaestus trying to whack them both on the heads to quiet them down. In the confusion, one goddess slipped away and headed for the magic elevator that connected Mount Olympus to the mortal world. She could see a lone person standing next to the silver doors. As she drew closer, the ruffled brown hair with distinct double curl and the casual clothes marked him out as Greece. He didn't turn to look at her, instead focusing intently on stroking his cat.

"I thought you would come after me," he said quietly.

"We can't have another war so soon after the previous," Hera replied. "I have a plan to stop it. However, I will need your help to begin."

"I'm not allowed in Olympus anymore." It wasn't a question. "I can't help."

"Just because you, my dear Greece, are not allowed in Olympus, does not mean _I_ am not allowed out," Hera said. "We can pick a meeting place. I'll only need your help to begin. I can do the rest on my own."

Heracles finally looked at her. He cocked his head slightly. "You can handle it? The same way you tried to stop the Greek and Roman war and ended up getting captured almost immediately?"

"Oh, hush. That was Gaea's doing."

"Technically, we're the earth too."

Hera glanced around. "We can't talk much longer. You will be staying in the US for a little longer, right?"

"One day at most."

"Then tomorrow, at 9 PM, meet me at... The entrance to Grand Central Station. Is that okay?"

Heracles smiled, but it was a smile tinged with bitterness. "The queen of the gods, requesting things from a mortal?"

"You're not a mortal. Now please give me an answer. Will you help?"

"Of course. If it will stop this war... I will do anything."

* * *

Heracles checked his watch as he threaded his way through the crowds of civilians and tourists. 8:54. He still had some time. But it wouldn't hurt to be early.

Finally reaching the steps to the famous train station, he gazed up at the facade, glimmering in the light of the street lamps. Then he turned his attention to the crowd, searching for a beautiful, regal woman who would probably have peacock feathers or patterns on her of some sort. Hera was like that. She couldn't resist peacocks.

"Hey, punk." Heracles immediately looked around for the source of the rough voice. Then hands grabbed him, pulling him into the shadow of a nearby alley. δεκάρα. He had let himself be surprised. He mentally cursed himself for letting down his guard. He tried to look around for his captor. Or captors. Just by glancing, he saw them, and how many. Ha! Just thirteen teenage boys, trying to play gangster! Well, they picked the wrong person to mug.

The biggest boy, presumable the leader, stepped forward, and growled, "Hand over all your money and possessions, and nobody gets hurt. Understand?" He was probably seventeen, eighteen, no more than nineteen years old. Heracles smiled grimly to himself. Time to show them who was really the boss.

Most of the other countries, and indeed, almost everyone who knew him would describe him as relaxed and easygoing. Well, that was not the case while he was fighting, just as Italy, when he got serious, was not the flag-waving coward everyone knew him as. Heracles slowly reached inside his coat, as if reaching for his wallet. Instead, he whipped out a cross, only about half the size of his usual combat cross, but still a dangerous weapon all the same. He snapped his arm back out, hitting the wannabe gangster in the chest. The guy flew back at least two feet. The other gangsters closed in to avenge their leader, who was spitting out hate words.

The boys didn't stand a chance. The youngest was fifteen at least, the oldest seventeen or eighteen, but they were nothing compared to a millenia-old country. Withing minutes the thirteen "gangsters" were down on the ground. Heracles left them in the alley and headed back out onto the street, discreetly tucking away his cross. The street was much less crowded, but in New York, that still meant that moving through the crowd was like trying to get through a school hallway just after the bell rang. There's just no way to move quickly.

Heracles checked his watch. 9:02. Great. He was late. Where was Hera?

"My dear Greece, it is not very like you to be late," a lilting voice sounded from behind him. Heracles turned, and there was Hera, in a peacock feather-patterned dress.

"I ran into some...trouble," Heracles replied. "And remember, my name is Heracles."

Hera gestured for him to follow her. They walked into the station together and went down a deserted hallway, ignoring the _Do Not Enter_ sign at its entrance. Hera turned to face him.

"Please don't resist what I am going to do next, Heracles," she said. "It will only make it harder."

Heracles nodded immediately. Although he would never admit it to any deity, one of the goddesses he trusted the most was Hera. She cupped her hands, and a small ball of white light appeared. The light ball grew bigger, enveloping the two "people". Then, the light was gone. And so were they.

* * *

Heracles opened his eyes. He and Hera were standing on a white marble platform that rose out of...clouds? In front of him was a shimmering, silvery pool filled with what seemed to be mist.

"Hera? What is this place?" he asked. The goddess didn't answer the question.

"Let me explain my plan to you," she said. "Do you remember what I did during the Greek-Roman tension? I sent one of the most important campers from each camp to the other, to establish a link. For this war, I plan to do the same. Only more... one-sided."

Heracles's jade green eyes widened. "Are you saying, you want some countries to come to Olympus?"

"Not quite. Zeus is not letting anyone that is not a god, save Chiron and some nymphs, to enter Olympus. However, his plan is to use the demigods to begin the war, the gods to finish."

"Oh..." Heracles's mental gears started to turn. "So you want to send a couple nations to each camp, to establish diplomatic relationships, right?"

"Correct. And that is where you come in." Hera turned to the silvery pool. "Using this pool, I can summon anyone, from anywhere in the world. However, there is a limit to how many times a year I can use it. This is the last time this year."

Heracles raised an eyebrow. "It's not even June yet."

"Like I said, I can't use it very much. Back to the matter at hand... Heracles, please tell me some countries that you think would work well with the Greek and Romans."

"Hmm..." Heracles said thoughtfully. "Well, I'd say- hold on. Will you take away their memories?"

"Yes. I've seen how much your kind fight over past events. It would be better if they didn't remember old rivalries and grudges."

"Then... will you take away their knowledge that they are countries?"

"I will try," Hera replied, "but there's no guarantee it will last. The moment someone tells them directly, they will know, and their memories will probably all return as well. But don't worry. I'll store their memories the same way I stored Jason's and Percy's: I'll put them in a 'bottle' of sorts. That bottle will start 'leaking' as they slowly regain their memories. It will be better this way."

"I see what you are saying," Heracles said. "And I have in mind five countries that I think will do the job."

"Who?"

"Canada, definitely," Heracles started. "He gets along well with most people. However, wherever Canada goes, America follows, and that airhead could blow our cover. So America is the second. America is hard to handle, though, and Canada can't manage it by himself. So I think England would help a lot. If he doesn't remember France, then he'll be fine. He's very responsible."

Hera nodded thoughtfully. "I approve so far."

Heracles continued. "The last two are Italy and Romano."

"What?"

"You heard me. Italy and Romano," Heracles said. "Although they may look and act weak, when they must they can be very dangerous, Italy in particular. Italy is also a very naturally friendly and kind person who would probably get along best with the Greeks. Finally, those two, being two halves of the same country, share a 'connection' of sorts, which could be useful. Provided Italy doesn't remember what England did to terrify him during the World Wars, the Italy brothers should work out fine, as well."

"You mentioned Italy would get along best with the Greeks. That's the second thing. What do you think would be the best way to divide them up?"

"I'd say keep England and America together. America would probably drive the Romans out of their minds, so he and England should go to Camp Half-Blood, along with Italy. Canada and Romano can go to the Romans."

Hera turned to the pool. "Very well, then. I'll trust your judgement." She started muttering something Heracles couldn't hear. The silver mist swirled and thickened, taking on five shapes. The shapes solidified into five unconscious nations. As Hera opened her mouth to start the memory spell, Heracles suddenly said, "Wait."

Hera turned to him. "They're too old to pass as campers," Heracles said. "You'll have to alter their ages a little."

"Very well." Hera muttered something else under her breath, and the five nations seemed to shrink. England looked about seventeen, Romano and Canada looked sixteen, and Italy and America looked fifteen. "They'll pass now," Heracles said. "Please, continue."

Hera started her muttering again. Five round orbs appeared, hovering in the air. White shimmering mist crept out of each nation's forehead. The memory mist gathered in their own orbs, swirling around the insides of the spheres. Finally, it was done.

"Their ages will be restored when their memories fully are," Hera said. "I'll do the rest. I can send you back now if you'd like to go."  
Heracles nodded. "Yes, I'd like to get home as soon as possible."

Hera cupped her hands, and the white light ball appeared again. As the light intensified, Heracles saw the five de-aged nations get enveloped by silver mist and disappear.

"Good luck," he whispered. Then the light vanished.

* * *

δεκάρα - Greek for _damn_

**I've really got nothing to say. Just sit back and enjoy. And despite what I said in the disclaimer, I do own Hera's secret cloud place, because I'm pretty sure Rick Riordan has never mentioned a secret cloud place before. Yay.**


	2. 1-1 Unclaimed

**I don't own anything. By the way, I really like Nico, so a lot of the time, when I'm not writing from the POV of a nation, it'll be from Nico's POV. Just a heads-up.**

* * *

**Part One: Feliciano, Arthur, Alfred**

* * *

**Chapter One: Unclaimed**

* * *

"Hey, Nico! You're on guard duty!" A voice called, and Nico di Angelo turned around to see Will Solace, the head of the Apollo cabin.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Nico replied. "I'll be there in a sec. Will, why does Chiron want to post lookouts anyway?"

Will shrugged. "We started when Chiron visited Olympus about a month ago," he said. "Something probably happened at that meeting. We weren't allowed to visit for the winter solstice either."

"Something definitely happened," Nico said. Will nodded. "But it looks like we're not finding out anytime soon."

Nico sighed and started trudging up Half-Blood Hill, heading for Thalia's pine tree. Why couldn't Chiron just answer their questions? Why couldn't _anyone_ just answer their questions? Where could he get some answers?

Little did the son of Hades know, some questions would be answered very soon.

* * *

"Rachel?" Chiron called, trotting into the Oracle's cave. His tail swished anxiously, waiting for the mortal. A fiery red headed girl popped her head out of a door.

"Oh, hey Chiron," Rachel said, coming into the main room. "What's up?"

Chiron hesitated. Rachel had never seen the centaur so agitated before. "Rachel, at the last meeting I went to on Olympus, I was told... that the gods... had declared war."

"War?! On who?!" Rachel exclaimed.

Chiron hesitated again. "An enemy that cannot be defeated very easily."

"What are they? Gods? Titans? Monsters?"

"No," Chiron said. "Please, don't ask me any more about them."

"Okay," Rachel said reassuringly. "I won't ask. So, why are you here?"

"I was wondering if the Oracle has spoken, or if you had seen anything," Chiron replied. "Our 'enemies' are not... _evil_, per say. If there is a way to stop this war, I would do it."

Rachel frowned. "Now that you mention it, I had a dream a week or so ago. I didn't see anything, but I heard two voices talking. And I remember one of them asking, 'Will you help?' and the other replying, 'Of course. To stop this war, I will do anything.' I don't remember anything afterward. Does that help?"

Chiron frowned. "Can you describe the voices?"

"One was really lyrical-sounding, really pretty. It sounded female," Rachel replied. "The other was lower, kind of relaxed and slower-sounding. Probably a male. Why do you ask?"

_Lyrical-sounding? Could be Hera. _ Chiron thought_. The other... low, relaxed... Heracles? What would they have been doing together? Heracles is one of the enemies now..._

"Thank you, Rachel," Chiron said. "And if the Oracle speaks, tell me immediately."

Rachel nodded. "Don't worry, Chiron. I'll be sure to-" She suddenly stumbled forward, and Chiron caught her in his arms. Rachel's eyes glowed bright green. She opened her mouth, and the ancient spirit of the Oracle of Delphi spoke.

_Five people with histories destroyed,_  
_Split onto two sides of the void,_  
_the fight that lasts to the last breath,_  
_Will hold them strong, even after death_  
_When sky meets earth, you must unite  
See past the dark, remember the light_

When she finished, Rachel went limp. Chiron carried her to a chair and gently set her down on the cushions. A few seconds later she opened her eyes.

"What? What just... oh, gods... I just spoke a prophecy, didn't I?" She said it all without taking a breath. Chiron just nodded. "Well, what did the Oracle say?"

Chiron paused. "I won't tell you that now. If the need arises, then I will tell everyone, together." He turned and clopped out the door, tail still swishing nervously. Rachel stared after him, wondering what she had really spoken.

* * *

Nico hiked to the top of Half-Blood Hill, and, without looking out of camp, got himself comfortable for two hours of doing nothing. Or so he thought. When he turned his attention to the world outside, he spotted three people lying on the ground. _How, and when, did they get there? It's been two minutes since Will ended his shift!_

He decided he should probably bring them into camp before a monster came along and ate them. Drawing his sword just in case, Nico cautiously approached the motionless bodies. He made out more details as he drew closer.

One had messy golden hair and the most enormous eyebrows Nico had ever seen. He appeared to be seventeen.

One had blonde hair with this weird tuft that stuck up in a cowlick, and glasses.

The last one had brown hair and a strange, gravity-defying curl coming off the left side of his head. Both he and the guy with glasses appeared to be fifteen.

Apart from their sudden appearance, their ages were strange. How did three demigods (for that was obviously what they were) manage to survive outside the camps for so many years? Nico had never seen a seventeen-year old demigod outside of either camp.

Reaching the unconscious demigods, Nico sized them up. They were way too big for him to carry by himself; he would need at least two other strong people to help him. He dashed back to camp.

Just under ten minutes later, Nico, along with two campers he didn't even know the names of, hauled the three newcomers over the crest of the hill. Nico could feel curious, questioning glances on him as they headed for the infirmary. Finally reaching the doors, he nudged it open, walked over to the nearest unoccupied bed and dumped his charge, the weird-curl guy, onto it. Then he leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. He could hear his companions doing similar actions.

A nurse, hearing the commotion, hustled into the room. "Oh dear, what happened?" she said, seeing the three unconscious teenagers on the beds and three more gasping for breath while leaning on the walls.

"I was on guard duty, and I found them like this just outside camp," Nico explained, as he finally recovered his strength and began breathing normally. The door clicked closed as the other two campers left.

"Well, if you were on guard duty," the nurse replied, checking the new demigods over for wounds, "you should get back on guard duty." Nico opened his mouth to protest, but the nurse interrupted, "I'll watch them. You can come see them once your shift is over."

Nico sighed. Then he turned towards the door and walked back outside, heading for the hill, wondering about the newest members of Camp Half-Blood.

* * *

"Oww… Bloody hell, what happened…" Arthur groaned as he sat up with a splitting headache. His emerald eyes flicked open and took in his surroundings. A clean, tidy infirmary with only three occupied beds, including his. In the other two beds were two familiar faces, both of which were groaning as they woke up as well.

"Dude…this sucks," the blonde fifteen-year old said, putting a hand on his forehead. The strange thing was, Arthur immediately recognized him. Actually, he recognized both of them.

"Alfred? Feliciano? Where are we?" he asked. The other brunette turned to him, eyes still closed.

"Ve, Arthur? Did you just wake up too?" he asked, his Italian accent clear in his voice.

"Dudes, how did we get here?" Alfred broke in. "Where is here, anyway? Last thing I remember, we were…" He frowned. "Last thing I remember… Dude, something's wrong. I can't remember anything."

Arthur scowled. "Neither can I." He turned to Feliciano, who still had his eyes closed. "I suppose it's too much to hope that you remember anything?"

"No, I don't," Feliciano replied. Why were his eyes still closed? Now that Arthur thought about it, it shouldn't be natural unless he was blind, and even then his eyes would be open. And yet, Feliciano doing things with his eyes closed seemed very familiar. Just as he thought that, the door opened, and Feliciano turned immediately to the person who entered, even though she had barely made any noise.

"Oh, _ciao, bella!_" Feliciano said cheerfully. "Can you tell us where we are, and what happened?"

"Yeah, I'd like to know that as well," Arthur said. He glanced over at Alfred to see him frowning. "Alfred? Is there something wrong?"

"I don't know," Alfred replied. "This place just feels kind of familiar. But I'm fairly certain I've never been here before."

Arthur was opening his mouth to reply when the nurse interrupted. "Ahem. To answer your question, you are at Camp Half-Blood. As for what happened, no one knows yet. One of our campers, Nico di Angelo, found you lying unconscious outside of camp and brought you in. Any of this sound familiar?"

"Sorry, no," Arthur said. _They were unconscious? Why couldn't he remember?_ "Thanks for the help, though."

"No problem," she replied. "I'll just look over the three of you for injuries and send you on your way." Arthur nodded absently as he racked his brain for memories. It was so hard, as if there was a mental block hiding his memories. He distantly heard Alfred talking and the nurse replying.

"What, and where, is Camp Half-Blood?" Alfred asked. "And what's with the name? It sounds kind of creepy."

The nurse chuckled. "It'll be explained soon. But rest assured that we're all good people here. Camp Half-Blood is located on Long Island."

"New York?" Arthur asked. The nurse nodded. _How the hell had they gotten to New York? So many questions…_

"You three are fine," the nurse said as she finished her checkup of Feliciano. "Now, I suggest you head to the Big House. The director will probably want to talk with you."

"Okay!" Feliciano said, jumping up. "Let's go! _Grazie!"_

"Hold on," she said. "Why do you still have your eyes closed? It's dangerous to walk around like that. That's not normal."

"Really?" Alfred asked. "I don't know why, but it seems pretty normal for him."

"_Sì, sì!_" Feliciano agreed. "I can see fine even with my eyes closed!"

The nurse stared for a moment longer, then shook her head in bewilderment. As the trio passed her Arthur heard her mutter to herself, "Is there a god of seeing or something?"

_God of seeing? _Arthur thought. _What is she talking about? Gods don't exist! _They stepped outside and he realized they had forgotten to ask for directions to the "Big House". Then it was immediately obvious where and what it was the moment he looked around.

"Come on, don't be such an old man!" Alfred said, tugging Arthur's sleeve to make him go faster. For some reason that phrase seemed familiar, like a joke that Alfred constantly teased Arthur with, but Arthur couldn't recall why it was such a joke to the fifteen-year old. The information flitted just out of his reach. He sighed. "Yes, I'm coming."

The trio quickly made their way to the Big House, trying not to stop too much to gaze at the activities going on around them. It was difficult, though, because there were many strange, out-of-place things going on that made the trio want to stop and gawk. Arthur could see kids doing things that were perfectly normal in a camp, like a volleyball game going on in a large sandpit. (He decided to ignore the fact that all the players on one side had the lower bodies of goats.) At the same time, there seemed to be groups of campers practicing sword fighting, or hurling javelins, or climbing up a wall that had lava pouring down the side. Soon the Big House loomed in front of them. It was, well, a big house, painted baby blue, with a porch wrapping all the way around the perimeter. As they drew closer, he saw a table on the porch, where two people were talking together. When they climbed the steps, the conversation stopped and both people turned to face the trio.

The younger of the two looked sixteen, maybe seventeen at most. He had a pale complexion, dark eyes, and fluffy black hair. He was dressed in an orange t-shirt with _Camp Half-Blood_ written on it and faded blue jeans. A black sword was strapped to his belt. The other was much older, with a beard and slightly graying hair. He was seated in a wheelchair, but the wheelchair radiated magic. The man probably wasn't disabled at all; the wheelchair was enchanted to compact a something large into a smaller box.

_Wait, what?_ Arthur blinked in confusion. How had he instinctively known that? He glanced at his friends. Alfred looked excited to get some answers, while Feliciano looked confused as well. The Italian simply did not understand how he knew the black-haired boy was the one the nurse said had brought them into camp.

"Hi, there," the boy said. "I'm Nico di Angelo. Chiron, these are the guys I found and brought in."

"_Ciao_, I'm Feliciano!" Of course, Feliciano, being the friendly person he is, introduced himself first. "And these are Alfred and Arthur!" Naturally, he would go on to introduce his companions as well.

"_Ciao…?_" Nico repeated. "Are you Italian?"

Feliciano beamed happily. "_Sì!_ And so are you! _Piacere di conoscerti_, Nico!"

Chiron cleared his throat. "I'm sure the three of you have lots of questions, so why don't we sit down and have a talk?" He gestured towards the table. The trio, along with Nico, sat down facing Chiron.

"How did you know that I'm Italian?" Nico asked Feliciano. The brunette stopped smiling and actually frowned, thinking hard.

"Hmm, I don't really know," he replied. "I can just tell, for some reason. I can tell you're from Venice too." Nico was shocked into silence, and Arthur spoke up.

"Uh, Chiron, can you tell us where we are, and why we are here?" he asked.

"For starters, you are at Camp Half-Blood," Chiron said.

"Already knew that," Alfred muttered, and Arthur elbowed him sharply to shut him up. Chiron watched with an amused look on his face before continuing. "It's a camp for half-bloods, or demigods."

Feliciano perked up. "Demigods? Half god, half human?"

"You know about demigods?" Nico asked, having recovered from his temporary shock.

"I think," Feliciano said, frowning again as he struggled to remember, "I think someone told me about demigods before. Someone very close to me. A relative, I think."

"Whoa, hold up," Alfred said. "So you're saying that all the people here are half god?"

"With the exception of one girl, yes," Chiron replied.

"So, by extension, you're saying that gods are real?" When Chiron nodded, Alfred exclaimed, "That's crazy! Gods don't exist!"

Nico nervously glanced at the sky. "You might want to watch what you say, Alfred." Arthur glanced at the sky, too. But nothing happened, so he relaxed.

"Then, why are we here?" Arthur asked.

"Because you've got to be demigods too," Nico replied. "Otherwise you wouldn't be able to enter camp."

Feliciano, Alfred, and Arthur glanced at each other. Each of them knew, somehow, with absolute certainty, that they were not demigods. Or at least, if they _were_ demigods by any chance, they were not normal demigods. Nico continued. "There's nothing super-weird about new demigods, we get a few every couple months or so, but what's strange is how old the three of you are."

"How…_old_ we are?" Arthur asked. Chiron was the one who answered.

"Yes. A few years back, the gods promised to claim all their demigod children by the time they turned thirteen. But you three are much older than that, and unclaimed, which is why it's so strange."

"Breaking a promise isn't strange," Alfred said. "People do it all the time."

Nico shook his head. "You can't break this promise without serious consequences."

"They swore on the River Styx, didn't they?" Feliciano asked, once again surprising everyone in the room with his knowledge.

"How did you know that?" Nico exclaimed. Feliciano shrugged. "I think the same person who told me about demigods told me about promises on the River Styx too."

"Chiron, what do you mean by 'claimed'?" Arthur asked.

"When a demigod is claimed, their godly parent sends some sort of sign to show that he or she is that deity's child," Chiron replied. "Mostly in the form of a symbol floating above the half-blood's head."

"Then, how do you know we haven't been claimed already?" Arthur continued. "Judging from the weird looks everyone's been giving us, we haven't ever been here before. What if we were claimed outside of Camp Half-Blood?"

Chiron stroked his beard thoughtfully as he said, "Can the three of you roll up your shirt sleeves?" Confused by the request, all three complied. Arthur suddenly noticed what he was wearing, and wondered why he hadn't noticed before; he seemed to be wearing olive green military fatigues. Shouldn't they feel more uncomfortable, since he'd never been in the military? Or had he? The clothes felt completely natural on his body. He rolled back his sleeves, showing unblemished skin. Alfred and Feliciano's forearms were the same, too; no marks or scars. Chiron frowned and Nico looked even more confused.

"So, they're not Roman, either," Nico muttered, almost to himself.

"Roman?" Feliciano asked.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to clarify one thing," Chiron said. "All three of you know about Greek and Roman myths, and how they share the gods under different names and slightly different personalities?" Feliciano nodded immediately, while Alfred gave Chiron a blank look. Arthur thought hard, yes, he did know that. From the looks of it, though, Alfred didn't. Chiron noticed Alfred's expression as well and held up a hand to stall the fifteen-year old's questions.

"Well, that means the gods have two different forms, Greek and Roman. Their half-blood children are also sorted under those two categories. Camp Half-Blood is mainly for the Greek demigods, or the children of the gods in their Greek form. The other camp in California, Camp Jupiter, is mainly for the Roman demigods." Arthur noticed that while he was explaining, Chiron sounded very much like a teacher in a school giving a lecture.

"At Camp Jupiter, when you become a full member of the legion ("What's a legion?" Alfred whispered. "Shut up you git," Arthur replied. "I'll tell you later."), you receive a tattoo on your forearm, symbolizing your legionnaire status." Chiron looked at their arms again, as if the tattoos would magically appear. "Those tattoos can never be removed. I thought that maybe your case was similar to Jason's…"

"Who's Jason?" Alfred asked.

"Jason Grace is the son of Jupiter," Nico said, "though he tends to travel a lot between the camps. He came to Camp Half-Blood under pretty much the same circumstances: no memories, picked up outside of camp by another camper. The only difference is that he was already claimed; he had his legionnaire tattoo. You three have nothing."

"Also," Chiron added, "Outside of either camp's protective boundaries, demigods attract monsters. For a demigod to survive outside of camp to the age of fifteen is almost unheard of. Three demigods together, one seventeen years old, two fifteen years old, surviving with no contact with a camp, is next to impossible."

"Great," Arthur grumbled. "All the more reason to stare at us like a walking museum exhibit."

"Don't talk like that," Nico said. "The others will get used to you soon. Besides, you're here now, and that's what matters!"

"Yes, speaking of which," Chiron glanced outside. "Nico, why don't you find another camper or two and show them around? Then, if there's still time left, head to the arena and test their fighting abilities." Nico nodded and got up, beckoning to the other three to follow. "Come on. I'm going to go get two friends to show you around. Okay?"

"_Sì_, okay!" Feliciano said. "See you later, Chiron!" He skipped out the door with Alfred following. Arthur hesitated.

"Arthur? Is something the matter?" Chiron asked.

"Yes, well…" Arthur rubbed his sleeves awkwardly. "You're not human, are you, sir?"

Chiron raised an eyebrow. "You noticed? Very perceptive. I would have expected Feliciano to say it first, with his knowledge of mythology, but he didn't say anything. What gave it away?"

Arthur frowned. "Your wheelchair… I don't know how, but I can tell it's magic. It's been enchanted to compact a large mass into a small volume."

"Interesting. You can sense it?" Chiron asked. Arthur nodded. "Maybe you're a child of Hecate, the magic goddess. Only time will tell." He smiled at Arthur, brown eyes piercing into emerald green. "Now go on, your friends are waiting." As if on cue, Nico's voice came from the door. "Arthur, come on!" followed by Alfred, "Hurry up! Stop being such an old man!"

Arthur still didn't go. "If you're not human, then what are you?"

"I am a centaur," Chiron said without hesitation. "You might want to tell Alfred when you see him. I think Feliciano won't be surprised, but Alfred certainly will be."

Arthur sighed. "Yes, he's really childish most of the time, isn't he," he said, almost to himself. Then the golden-haired teen turned and walked out the door. Chiron watched him go, a small seed of an idea forming in his mind. The idea was preposterous. The chances of it being true were next to zero. And not only that, but the plan the idea suggested was more than a little risky. Yet as much as Chiron tried to deny it, he couldn't forget the look in those emerald eyes. Emerald eyes that seemed to hold centuries of knowledge and experience, even more than Chiron himself.

* * *

Just as Chiron predicted, Alfred's reaction to the news that Chiron was a centaur was quite explosive ("No way, dude! That's not possible!" "Of course it's possible, you idiot! That wheelchair was definitely for him to put his horse body in!") Likewise, Chiron's prediction of Feliciano's reaction also proved true. ("You don't seem surprised, Feli." "I'm not. I knew all along." "WHAT?!") Nico soon found his two friends and introduced them.

"Percy, Annabeth, this is Feliciano, Alfred, and Arthur," Nico said. "They're new demigods, and I was wondering if maybe each of you could take one of them, show them around. When we're finished, we meet at the arena. Is that okay?"

"Sure," Percy said. He had dark hair like Nico, and sea-green eyes. To Arthur's surprise, tattooed on his arm was _SPQR_, along with a trident. Was he a Roman demigod? "Alfred, I can show you around." The blonde-haired boy grinned.

"I'm fine with it too," Annabeth said. She had blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, and stormy gray eyes. An ivory-white sword with a leather handle was strapped to her belt. Arthur briefly wondered by she had a weapon and Percy didn't. She extended a hand to him. "I'll show Arthur around. We'll leave the Italians together, eh?"

"Hey!" Nico said. "Was that an insult?"

"Why would she insult an Italian?" Feliciano asked. "Come on, Nico, aren't you going to show me around?" He latched onto the black-haired boy's arm and started dragging him to who-knows-where. Annabeth watched them, smirking.

Arthur smiled. He liked her already. She seemed to remind him of someone. Someone important. But just as quickly as that little bit of information came, it disappeared. Arthur almost screamed in frustration, but held it back. It wouldn't make a very good first impression, would it?

The tour went by very quickly. Annabeth seemed to be very well known within the camp; wherever they went at least one camper would call out, "Hey Annabeth!" When she showed him the cabins, he asked her where he, Alfred, and Feliciano would be staying, since they didn't know their godly parents.

"You'll sleep in one of the 'unclaimed' cabins," she replied. "There's another demigod who came in recently, who's staying there too. Once you're claimed you can move into the respective cabin." Arthur was secretly worried about that. He knew he wasn't going to be claimed. Ever.

Finally she led him to the arena. Alfred and Percy were already there, playing with – oh no – a giant black dog.

"What is that?" Arthur asked nervously.

"Oh, that's Mrs. O'Leary," Annabeth replied. "She's one of the only tame hellhounds in the world."

"She's a _hellhound_?"

Annabeth nodded. "Mm-hmm. Her previous owner gave her to Percy to take care of when he died. She's really friendly actually."

"I knew it. We're last," Nico's voice came from behind them. The last pair had arrived. There was that strange sense of déjà vu again; as if it were perfectly normal for Feliciano to be late to meetings. Wait, meetings? Arthur blinked and shook his head. Where did thoughts of _meetings_ come from? He tried to grasp at the thought, but it slipped away.

"Sorry we're late," Feliciano said, walking in behind Nico. "We just- AAH! Hellhound!" He immediately took shelter behind Nico from the giant dog.

"Stop hiding, Feliciano!" Arthur snapped at him. "She's friendly."

"Ve… You sure?" Feliciano asked, creeping out from behind Nico. Mrs. O'Leary bounded over to inspect all four newcomers, quickly losing interest in Annabeth and Nico, and turning her attention to Arthur. When she saw Feliciano, however, she leaped forward with a loud _WOOF!_, pinning the Italian to the ground.

"Feliciano! Are you alright, dude?" Alfred yelled, running over. He and Arthur tried to see through the fur, and when they did, they were shocked by what they saw. Under Mrs. O'Leary's giant paws, Feliciano was _laughing_.

"Ack! Don't do that, that tickles! Hahaha!" he giggled as Mrs. O'Leary licked his face.

"Mrs. O'Leary! Off!" Percy shouted. The dog looked up at her owner, whimpered a little, and reluctantly got off, letting Feliciano get back on his feet. He looked up at her, smiling. "You really are a nice hellhound, aren't you!" He received an affirmative bark in response. Beside Annabeth, Nico shook his head in wonder.

"How does she already like him so much?" he asked. Annabeth shrugged. How would she know? She called to their charges, "Alfred, Arthur, Feliciano, stop playing with the dog and come over here!"

They complied and followed Annabeth to the center of the arena, Feliciano obviously reluctant to leave his new friend. Nico faced them in the center.

"Okay. You already know that demigods attract monsters, so that means you need to know how to fight. If you have managed to survive until now then your skills should be pretty good, but I still need to test your abilities. We'll just do one-on-one duels, and whoever showed you around camp will be your opponent. Clear?"

"Crystal," Arthur and Alfred answered automatically, then glanced at each other in surprise. Feliciano had opted for the simpler, "Sì!"

Annabeth smiled mischievously. "Arthur, you'll be fighting me first, once you pick your weapons." She gestured to rack at the side of the arena that was filled with assorted weapons. Glancing at Alfred and Feliciano, Arthur led the way to the rack. Arthur and Alfred both picked swords, though Alfred's was two-handed, as well as a bit heavier and longer than Arthur's. Feliciano picked a spear. Nico frowned at it.

"You sure, Feli?" he asked. "Spears aren't exactly great for close combat."

"I'm sure!" Feliciano replied cheerfully. "I don't know why, but a weapon with a longer reach feels better in my hands."

Nico shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"Arthur, come on," Annabeth said, drawing her ivory sword. "Don't hold back."

Arthur readied his own sword. Its balance wasn't the greatest but the grip felt reassuring and familiar in his hand. He readied his other hand; for what, he wasn't sure yet, but he hoped it would come to him while fighting.

"We'll fight for three minutes," Annabeth said. "Not too long, is it?"

"Nope." Somehow Arthur knew that he had fought for much longer before, for days, weeks, months, even _years_. How that was possible, he had no idea. The thought slipped away again.

"Three…" He heard Percy counting down. "Two… One…." He raised his sword, dropping instinctively into a defensive stance. "Start!"

Annabeth made the first move, lunging towards Arthur. He easily blocked her strike, his body moving on its own. Her eyes narrowed and she started to attack harder. He countered her attacks, his body thrusting, blocking, stepping without any thoughts needed. Two minutes passed, and Arthur decided to go on the offensive. He started to push Annabeth back. He saw her eyes widen in panic before she started to fight back as hard as she could. He was gaining on her, but there were only twenty seconds left, and he wanted to win. He stepped back a little, focusing his mind. His green eyes narrowed. As Annabeth lunged again, he thrust out his other hand, palm facing towards her. He didn't speak any words. He didn't need to.

An invisible force slammed into her, sending her flying to the ground. Arthur lowered his hand and calmly walked over to her and placed his sword on her chest. He smirked at her expression as the timer rang.

"I win."

Percy and Nico were gaping at him from the sidelines. Alfred's face was scrunched up in concentration, while Feliciano watched him passively, just like Kiku.

_Kiku?_ The name brought him up short. Who was Kiku? Why did he seem so familiar? What was he like? Again, the thought vanished just as suddenly as it appeared, along with the name he just remembered. Arthur sighed inwardly. He was going to go crazy from this.

"Arthur, how did you do…_that?_" Percy asked, gesturing to Annabeth.

Arthur shrugged. "I don't know. It just felt natural."

Annabeth pushed herself off the ground. "You're a lot better than I expected," she said. "Heck, you're probably better than me, and that's saying something. How'd you get so good?"

"Again," Arthur said, sighing. "I don't know."

Nico cleared his throat. "Feliciano, you ready?"

The brunette nodded, all traces of a smile gone from his face. This was the Feliciano that was rarely seen outside of a fight. As Percy reset the timer, he dropped into a fighting stance as well, legs relaxed but strong, the spear gripped firmly between his hands. Nico drew his pitch-black sword and readied himself as well.

"Three… Two… One…" Percy counted. "Go!"

Like Annabeth, Nico made the first move, lunging at Feliciano the way she did. Feliciano calmly timed his strike so that the shaft and not the point of the spear slammed into Nico's side, easily batting him off course. Nico tumbled to the ground but immediately rolled back up.

That was how almost the entire battle went. Nico simply couldn't get close enough to strike. He tried speeding his way in, but Feliciano was, somehow, even faster, almost a blur as he swiped Nico out of the air again and again. In the last minute Nico managed to get closer and actually use his sword, but Feliciano had no problem countering with the base of the spear's shaft. During the whole fight Feliciano had stayed on the defensive, but in the last twenty seconds he lashed out at Nico, suddenly switching to offensive. And just like Arthur's battle, Nico ended up on the ground with a spear point to his chest. Feliciano tilted his head and smiled cheerfully.

"I win!"

Annabeth and Percy were staring, mouths open like fish.

"I don't get it," Annabeth said. "How could he have his eyes closed for the whole fight, but still be so quick and precise?"

Indeed, that was exactly what Feliciano had done; his eyes hadn't even cracked open a tiny bit during the battle. Arthur found himself answering Annabeth's question.

"He can see with his eyes closed," he said. "When his eyes open he's even more dangerous."

"Ve~ But I don't open them a lot, so you don't have to worry!" Feliciano assured them cheerily while helping Nico up. "I don't open my eyes unless it's something serious that actually needs seeing!" This statement, of course, confused the poor demigods even more.

"Don't stress over it," Alfred muttered to Percy. "I don't get it either. But it's what he does."

Percy shook his head. "Still doesn't make any sense, but okay," he said. "Alfred, let's go."

Alfred nodded, his usual smile dropping and his face becoming serious. The duo got ready as Annabeth manned the timer (Nico still needed to recover.)

"Three… Two… One…." She slapped the button. "Go!"

Percy had learned his lesson by this point and wisely did not lunge at Alfred as an opening attack. In fact, it was Alfred who struck first with a bold swing that Percy blocked. Percy's arms partially crumpled under the force of Alfred's blow. The dark-haired teen narrowed his eyes, forcing both swords to the side before attempting another strike.

Percy and Alfred's fight was much more evenly matched, with Alfred knocking Percy over in the last five seconds using his full strength, and placing his sword on the older demigod's chest just as the timer sounded. Next to Arthur, Annabeth shook her head in wonder.

"Percy is probably the best swordsman at this camp," she said, in reply to Arthur's questioning look. "He's almost never been beaten."

Alfred and Percy came over, both of them grinning.

"Dude, that was an awesome fight you put up!" Alfred said, holding out his fist.

Percy bumped it. "You fought pretty well, too. Almost no one at this camp can face me one-on-one and win."

"Is it time for dinner yet?" Feliciano asked, abruptly changing the subject.

Annabeth checked her watch. "Should be… right about…. Now." On cue, a horn sounded throughout the camp. "Come on. Since you're unclaimed, you can sit with whomever you want."

"What does being unclaimed have to do with seating arrangements?" Arthur asked as they headed for the dining pavilion. He could see lines of other campers headed there from various activities.

"Normally, you would have to sit with the rest of your cabin," Percy answered. "but since you guys aren't assigned to a cabin, you can sit wherever you want. I'm alone at my table, actually, so if you wanna come…"

"Really? Who's your parent?" Feliciano asked.

"Poseidon," Percy replied. He gave Alfred a sideways smile. "So if we had been fighting next to the stream, for example, I would have beaten you."

"Yeah, well," Alfred shrugged. "You can't always pick your battleground."

"Annabeth, Nico, who are your parents?" Feliciano asked.

"My mom's Athena," Annabeth answered. "so I have lots of siblings. I wouldn't suggest sitting at the Athena table."

"I'm alone like Percy," Nico said. "So, uh, Chiron makes an exception and I eat with him at the Poseidon table a lot. But my dad is Hades."

"The god of the underworld?" Feliciano asked. Nico nodded, secretly searching the cheerful Italian's face for any signs of fear or revulsion. He found none.

They reached the dining pavilion and Annabeth broke off from the group to sit with the other Athena campers. Alfred, Arthur, and Feliciano, not knowing anyone else, followed Nico and Percy to the Poseidon table. At the front of the pavilion, Chiron, now in full centaur form, stamped his hoof on the marble to get everyone's attention.

"Campers! I would like to welcome three new demigods today," Chiron began. "I'm sure most of you have already seen them, but Alfred, Arthur, and Feliciano are unclaimed despite their age." Whispers broke out, and Arthur wanted to slink under the table until everyone stopped talking or even thinking about them.

"I believe it may have to do with the…_situation_ on Olympus right now," Chiron continued. "but please do not treat them any differently from anyone else." He looked around at the assembled campers, and then said, "And without further delay, let us eat!"

When they had their food, Percy explained the camp tradition of burning part of their dinners as offerings to the gods. Arthur felt distinctly uncomfortable as he dropped a juicy corncob into the flames. He couldn't even fathom why the gods wanted to smell the smoke; to him it smelled like the smoke from fires left by bombs, like the acrid smell of poison and gas, like dead, rotting bodies, and the metallic tang of blood and gunpowder-

Hold on. When did he ever smell those scents? He was only seventeen!

And yet, he knew those scents much too well. How, he had no idea, just like pretty much every other part of his life at the moment. But he was certain of it. He discreetly sidled up to Alfred and Feliciano and whispered, "Have you smelled the smoke?"

Their faces gave him his answer. They _had_ smelled the same thing he did. If that was the case, then why did the rest of the campers, even Chiron, seem to smell something different, something _good_?

"Nico?" he whispered to the son of Hades. "To you, what does the smoke smell like?"

Nico gave him a strange look, but upon seeing Arthur's expression his eyes softened. "I smell hundreds of good things that really shouldn't go well together, but do. Like cookies and roses. They don't go together, but somehow they do in the smoke." He cocked his head slightly. "Why? Do you smell something different?"

Arthur scowled down at his food. The combined, horrible scent still lingered in his nostrils. "It's nothing. Never mind."

Nico looked at him closely, then said, "You're lying. But that's okay. You can tell me when you're ready." _Dang, the kid was good._

Arthur glanced around, then started talking in a rushed whisper to Nico. "I smell horrible scents all mixed together, like blood, poison, gunpowder, and dead, burnt, bodies. Alfred and Feliciano smell it too. And don't ask me how I can identify all those horrid smells, I just can, as if I've smelled it many times before." He paused to draw in breath, then looked Nico pleadingly in the eyes. "Please, don't tell anyone. At least not without asking one of the three of us first."

"Okay."

Arthur let out a breath of relief. "Thank you."

Nico frowned. "But, you should probably tell Chiron. I don't think that's normal."

The golden-haired boy sighed. "What _is_ normal, at least for us?"

When everyone had polished off their dinners, they headed to the fire for a singalong. Before they began, the other campers looked like they were waiting for something as Chiron called Alfred, Arthur, Feliciano, and a kid named Noah to step forward. Arthur wondered what they were waiting for. Thirty seconds later it became very clear as Noah was claimed right in front of their eyes, a set of glowing, purplish-black scales appearing over his head. When it was clear none of the other three were going to be claimed, they sat back down with the rest of the campers. Arthur whispered to Percy, "What was that thing?"

"The scales, you mean?" Arthur nodded. "That's a symbol of the goddess of revenge. Looks like that kid has Nemesis for a mom." Arthur wondered vaguely what having revenge for a mother would be like. Meanwhile, almost every other camper was wondering why two fifteen-year olds and one seventeen-year old, all several years past the deadline, had not been claimed that night at the campfire.

* * *

_Piacere di conoscerti – Italian, nice to meet you_

** Thus it begins! Yay! I find Arthur's POV really easy to write... then again, my personality is a lot like his... hmm...**


	3. 1-2 Capture the Flag

**If I owned Hetalia and/or Percy Jackson, this story would be going on the shelves and not this website.**

* * *

**Chapter Two: Capture the Flag**

* * *

The trio soon settled into a rhythm. Every day they would be woken up by either Arthur kicking them or Alfred waking them up by shouting. Feliciano always ended up ready for breakfast first though, leaving the other two grumbling.

After breakfast, they would do activities around the camp, usually starting with Annabeth or some other camper to study Latin and Ancient Greek. According to Annabeth, demigods should instinctively be able to read one or both of the languages, just not necessarily very well. Alfred, Arthur and Feliciano instantly disproved this; Alfred couldn't figure out a single word; Arthur commented that it looked somewhat like Old English, followed immediately by the discovery that he was fluent in several dead languages, such as Old English and Cumbric; and Feliciano turned out to be fluent in Latin but an absolute flunk at Greek, which Annabeth commented wasn't very typical, and that normally, while a demigod could read the languages, it usually wasn't a lot, and they certainly were _never_ already fluent in the language.

"I guess I'll just teach you all Greek," she said, and that was what they did after that morning.

They would do activities with other cabins throughout the day, and almost always one or more of the trio would surpass campers in an activity. For example, Alfred worked well with metal, almost at the Hephaestus campers' levels. Feliciano could scramble to the top of the climbing wall faster than pretty much everyone else, and was especially good in things that required art or designing. And Arthur somehow managed to beat the most experienced Hecate camper in magic, and was a complete natural in the water, both on a boat and off.

Then, of course, there was battle training. On the very first day, the Ares counselor, Clarisse, came up to the trio and tried to stuff Feliciano's head in the toilet. Needless to say, five minutes later Feliciano had defeated her in hand-to-hand combat, despite the fact that she was bigger and stronger than him. At first, they had gotten a lot of fight requests, but soon everyone figured out that unless at least two people ganged up on one of them, there was no chance of winning.

On Friday morning, six days after they had arrived, Arthur woke up and stretched his arms. The first thing his eyes spotted after waking up was his military uniform. All three of them had worn their uniforms on the first day, but after receiving strange looks from almost every camper, they switched to the standard camp T-shirt. Arthur wasn't sure why he still kept the uniform. He probably should have thrown it away by now, or at least put it in a drawer or something. But that felt wrong. And strangely, the uniform felt more natural on him than a t-shirt, which was strange. Wasn't it normal for seventeen-year olds to wear t-shirts? Then, why did it feel so _strange_ when he put the shirt on? Yawning, he swung his legs out of bed so he could go and wake up his cabin mates. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Arthur asked blearily as he stumbled over to the door and opened it.

To his surprise, it was Percy. "Hey, what're you doing here?" Arthur asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Tonight's capture the flag," Percy replied. "I'm captaining one of the teams. Jason is leading the other, and he's got Annabeth and the rest of the Athena cabin."

"So?"

"Well, you know Annabeth," Percy continued. "She's a good strategist, and they've got good fighters. So I was wondering if you, Alfred, and Feliciano could play for my team tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Yeah, we play capture the flag every Friday evening," Percy explained. "So, what do you say?"

"Hold on a second," Arthur said. "I have to wake them up. You can come in if you want." Without closing the door, he turned and headed for the bunks. Then he slammed his foot into the side of Alfred's bunk frame. "Wake up, you lazy idiot!"

Alfred just groaned and rolled over. Arthur rolled his eyes and suddenly came up with an idea. He bent over Alfred and yelled, "I made breakfast! It's scones today!"

"Waaah!" Alfred shrieked as he shot up. "Don't feed me those things! I don't want to die!"

Arthur smirked. It worked. Then his smile faded as a question came to his mind: where did that idea come from? How had he known Alfred would be scared of scones? Maybe it was a past experience, but it was gone now. He sighed and walked over to Feliciano's bed and kicked the post. Unlike Alfred, the Italian shot right out of bed, his weird hair curl crinkling up in fear. "What?! What's happening?" he squeaked, followed by a string of Italian that no one understood.

Arthur glanced sideways at Percy, who was watching with an expression of amusement mixed with confusion. The demigod sent him a questioning look, and Arthur mouthed, "No other way."

Arthur turned back to the other two and said, "Listen, will you? Tonight the whole camp is going to play capture the flag, and Percy wants us on his team. Do you two agree?"

"Is Nico on your team too?" Feliciano asked Percy. The brunette had formed an attachment to the dark-haired demigod, and tended to hang out with him, the two of them chatting together in Italian.

"Um… yes," Percy answered, not sure of how to take the question. Feliciano beamed happily. "Then my answer is _sì!_ What do you think, Alfred?"

"Sure dude, why not?" Alfred said, pulling on his shirt.

Arthur turned to Percy. "We're all agreed then. What color are you?"

"Chiron will announce it all at dinner," Percy replied. "You three might want to hurry up, Annabeth is waiting."

* * *

Just as Percy had said, after dinner they all gathered next to the forest, where Chiron called for attention.

"Campers! We will start our game of capture the flag in a few minutes!" Chiron said. "On one side, the red team is led by the Zeu- um, Jupiter cabin." A bunch of cheers rose from the red team. "On the other side, blue is led by Poseidon." Percy and his allied cabins cheered. Chiron continued. "Everyone knows the rules: no killing or maiming, the stream is the boundary, the flag must be placed in a visible location, and the entire forest is fair game. I will serve as field medic and referee. Arm yourselves!" Weapons, armor, and shields appeared in front of him. Arthur grabbed the sword he usually used, and saw Alfred and Feliciano take up their usual weapons as well. He looked to the shields and armor. He took a shield, but for some reason didn't want any armor. Percy walked up to him and tapped his shoulder.

"Uh, Arthur? You should probably put on some armor. Wouldn't want you to die while playing."

Arthur shook his head. "I don't know, I don't really like the thought of wearing too much armor… Maybe just a breastplate."

Percy frowned. "Maybe. Hey, why're you wearing those clothes? I thought you ditched them a week ago."

Arthur glanced down at his military uniform. "It felt natural. I feel better wearing these clothes while fighting."

Percy looked at him for a while longer, then shrugged. "You know what's best for yourself. When you're done, come find me. I have to check on everyone else." He walked off. Arthur considered the armor for a while longer, then reluctantly took a breastplate and put it on. He pushed through the crowd until he found Percy, who looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Not even a helmet?" he asked.

Arthur shook his head. "I'll be fine."

Percy nodded. "Okay. You'll be on border patrol with another camper. Understand?"

"Border patrol?"

"Protect the border," Percy explained. "Stop the other team from getting across. You'll be working with Emma, here." He gestured to a shy-looking girl. Why Percy had decided Emma was a good choice for border patrol, Arthur had no idea. "What are Alfred and Feliciano going to do?"

"Alfred's protecting the flag," Percy replied. "And I've put Feliciano on the offensive with Nico. He runs really fast, so…"

Arthur nodded. "I get it." He turned to Emma. "Hi, Emma. I'm Arthur."

"Hi," she said in a small voice. She was clearly very nervous. Although she looked around fourteen, she was small for her age. She nervously held a spear and shield, and she obviously had no qualms about wearing armor. Arthur wondered what cabin she was from. As if sensing his question, she said, "I'm from the Demeter cabin."

_Demeter?!_ Why did Percy think it would be a good idea to put a _Demeter _camper on border patrol? Arthur didn't get a chance to think any more as, at a command from Chiron, the campers started marching into the forest. He made his way to the stream, seeing Emma doing the same. He quickly whispered in her ear, "You take one side, I'll take the other, alright?" She nodded and left without saying anything. Arthur took up his position and readied his sword. A horn blew. The game had begun.

Arthur kept one eye on Emma as he scanned the forest. If the other team was smart, they would try to break through on her side, as she was weaker than he was. He would have to hold his own position and try to help her from a distance.

Just as he predicted, almost no red players approached his portion of the stream. He wasn't very bothered by this, as it let him focus his mind and magically help Emma. When a large wave of red players attacked at once, Arthur knew it was the red team's final push; if it worked, they had a chance, and if it didn't work, they would lose. He faced the oncoming red players calmly, easily taking them out. The last one had just been deemed "captured" when he suddenly heard a shriek. He cursed. He had completely forgotten about Emma. Running as fast as his legs would carry him, he saw a group of Ares campers taunting the smaller Demeter girl, jabbing at her with their spears. He charged, trying to knock them away. Suddenly he heard a scream and whirled around in time to see a particularly nasty looking Ares kid raise his spear above his head, about to jab it into Emma's leg. Emma was on the ground, her own spear several feet away. She must have done something to enrage the guy. With a few lightning-quick calculations, Arthur knew there was no way to stop the spear. He dashed towards Emma, shoving her out of the way but accidentally putting his own arms in the line of fire. The spear pierced through one arm and lodged in the other, and Arthur screamed in agony. He collapsed on the ground, briefly seeing the Ares camper looking stunned and Emma dropping to the ground next to him. The last thing he saw was a red player leaping over the stream with the blue flag in his hand. Then he blacked out.

* * *

Percy had been distracted by the wave of red players. When he finally fought his way through to the creek, his heart dropped into his stomach at the sight of Arthur on the ground with a spear through his arms, Emma on the ground next to him desperately trying to stop the bleeding, and an Ares camper just standing there in shock. Percy didn't hesitate to yell as loud as he could, "CHIRON!" before sprinting to the border patrol.

Chiron cantered up as Percy dropped to the ground next to Arthur, checking him over. "What happened?"

"I don't know, I couldn't see the stream," Percy said, checking for a heartbeat. Or at least, he tried to. He never was good at first aid.

"A huge wave of red players attacked at the same time," Emma said, "I was getting beaten back by a group of Ares campers. One of them was about to spear me, but Arthur pushed me out of the way and took the hit."

Chiron frowned at the Ares camper standing guiltily next to the stream. "You and I have to talk later." The guy gulped and nodded. Chiron knelt down next to Arthur, and said, "Emma, please go get some nectar and ambrosia. Percy, get some bandages." The two campers complied and dashed off as an Apollo camper ran up.

"Chiron?" Will Solace asked. "What- oh." He took in the spear that went through Arthur's forearms. Then his face hardened. "Let's take it out, then."

Chiron nodded. "I'll let you do it." Will took Chiron's place next to Arthur's unmoving body, and carefully grasped the spear before yanking it out. Arthur jerked involuntarily from the pain, despite being unconscious. Will tossed the spear to the side just as Emma and Percy came back.

"Percy, bandages," Will commanded. Percy handed him the bandages and he took them without looking and started wrapping the gaping wounds. Meanwhile, Emma tipped Arthur's head back, gently pouring some nectar into his mouth.

"ARTHUR!" Alfred and Feliciano dashed up to the crowd that had formed around the injured camper. They shoved their way to the front, and Alfred immediately dropped to the ground.

"Oh, God, no, Arthur, please…" Alfred frantically began checking over Arthur's body, completely oblivious to the other watching campers. Feliciano somehow pushed his way to Arthur's side and examined him as well. Suddenly he looked up.

"Will, remove the bandages," he said.

Will stared at him. "I know ambrosia and nectar heals us, but never that quickly and completely."

"Just do it." Feliciano's voice was level and calm. Will stared at him for a moment longer, then slowly unwrapped one of Arthur's arms. His jaw dropped in shock. Arthur's arm was already healed, with nothing but a thin, pale scar to even show that there had been a cut there in the first place. "What… how…" Will unwrapped his other arm to see the same thing: nothing but a small, rapidly fading scar. The Apollo camper glanced at Percy. "Is this like the same thing that happened to you?"

Percy shook his head. "He's not even touching the water, much less standing in it."

Will turned his attention back to Arthur. "It just doesn't make any sense- Hey! Alfred, what are you doing?"

Alfred leaned over Arthur's head and yelled in his ear, "WAKE UP EYEBROWS, OR ELSE I'LL STUFF A HAMBURGER DOWN YOUR THROAT!" Everyone except Feliciano looked confused at the seemingly random statement, but it seemed to work. Arthur's eyes flicked open and he yelled back, "I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY, WANKER!"

Feliciano put his hands on the other's chest. "Calm down, Arthur! You just got speared, you need to rest!"

"Speared…?" Arthur trailed off as he noticed the crowd of concerned campers gathered around him. He suddenly remembered what happened and looked down at his arms. They were completely healed, but his face didn't show any surprise. Almost as if he expected it to happen.

Chiron stood, and any ongoing conversations immediately stopped. "Will, can you, Feliciano, and Alfred take Arthur to the infirmary? Everyone else, go to bed. We will look more into this tomorrow." There were unsatisfied mutterings, but everyone complied. Alfred and Feliciano grabbed Arthur's arms and hauled him up. As they headed back to camp, Will leading the way, Feliciano and Alfred supported Arthur, Alfred said quietly to Arthur, "You knew your arms would heal, didn't you?"

Arthur frowned. "Not really. I just knew that I didn't have to worry about any injuries. I didn't know they would heal like that."

"I feel like if me or Alfred got hurt, we would heal like that too," Feliciano broke in. "It's strange."

"The questions just keep piling up, don't they?" Arthur sighed. Will held open the infirmary door and guided Arthur to an empty bed. "Do I really need to be in here?" Arthur protested. "My arms have already healed."

"You should have at least one night of rest in the infirmary," Will said. "I'll stay here with you. Alfred, Feliciano, you two should go to bed." Alfred opened his mouth to protest, but Arthur broke in, saying, "It's okay, Alfred. I'll be fine." Alfred pouted and sulkily led the way out the door. Will closed the door after them, then turned to Arthur.

"So how_ did _your arms heal so quickly?" Will asked. "The only time another camper has healed this quickly is when Percy stood in the water during his first capture the flag game. But you weren't even _touching_ the water, and you still healed. How'd you do it?"

Arthur ran his hands over his forearms. "Honestly, I don't know. I just have this weird feeling…" He bit his lip, and Will gestured for him to continue. "Go on."

"Well, I had this feeling that I didn't have to worry over any injuries," Arthur said, using the same explanation he had told Alfred and Feliciano. "As if the injuries wouldn't have any effect on me. I talked with Alfred and Feliciano, and Feliciano mentioned that he had the same feeling."

Will looked thoughtful. "Honestly, I've never seen or heard of something like this happening before. The closest it comes to is Percy's abilities, but you healed outside the water. I can't really think of an explanation."

Arthur sighed and lay his head back on his pillow. "I feel like there are so many questions that would solve several problems if only they were answered."

"You're feeling that way too?" Will asked. "You know, I think everyone's noticed by now that Chiron is keeping something from us. All the counselors are waiting for him to call a meeting, but he still hasn't done it." He paused. "You remember how Nico found you, right?"

"Actually, no, I don't. I was unconscious, according to him."

"Oh, well, he found you while he was on sentry duty," Will said. "But just a few weeks ago, the sentry post didn't even exist. Chiron recently set it up, but we have no idea why."

Arthur frowned. "Well, the logical reason would be that he's expecting attack from someone outside the camp."

"Who could it be, though?" Will wondered. "I mean, we've defeated the Titans and the giants, and the Romans are our allies now. Who else is out there?"

Arthur shrugged, then yawned. "I don't know. I'm going to sleep now. G'night."

"Good night, Arthur."

* * *

_Arthur blinked open his eyes and looked around in confusion. This wasn't the infirmary. He must be dreaming._

_ He seemed to be in a conference room of sorts. There were ten people sitting around a large table. Arthur didn't recognize any of them, but they all seemed very familiar. One of them stood up. He had slicked back blond hair and a strong, well-built body, but his face was a little blurry, and Arthur couldn't really make out any distinguishing facial features. Glancing around the room, he realized that was the case with all the people in the room._

_ The one who stood up said, "Let's get this meeting started." His voice sounded kind of blurry too. "_, you said you have something to announce." The beginning of this sentence was so blurred Arthur couldn't hear the name. Another guy stood up. He had ruffled, shoulder-length, brown hair and was holding a cat._

_ "Thank you all for coming on such short notice," the second guy said. "I don't know if you know already, but we've entered a war."_

_ "With the gods, right?" a man with shorter brown hair said. Cat Guy nodded._

_ "I have reason to believe that they'll attack soon," he continued. "I don't know when, or where. I only called this meeting to let you all know. We'll hold another meeting later to discuss tactics. If all of you could spread the word to all the other _, then we could hold a _ _." Arthur was growing a little frustrated with the dream. All the important information was getting blurred out._

_ Another man, with shoulder-length, silky, blonde hair spoke up. "_, have you seen _, _, or mon petit _? They are not here."_

_ "Neither is _, for that matter," the first, slick-haired guy said. "It's normal for him to be late, but he almost always attends meetings. And if he doesn't attend, _ would attend for him."_

_ "Sí, sí!" the second brown-haired guy said. "I haven't seen _ around for a while now, actually. _, do you know where he is?"_

_ Cat Guy hesitated before replying. "Not at the moment."_

_ The long-haired blonde guy was about to speak, but the dream started fading and growing fuzzy around the edges, and Arthur couldn't hear his words. He wanted to scream in frustration. If only the dream hadn't been so distorted…!_

* * *

Arthur flicked his eyes open. Sunlight was pouring in through the windows. He turned his head to see Will sleeping in a chair next to the bed. Wow, the guy really hadn't been kidding when he had said he would stay with Arthur for the night.

Arthur pushed himself into a sitting position, thinking about his dream. Why did all those people seem so familiar? As if he had known them before. But no, he was fairly certain he had never met them before… or had he? Had he seen them before he lost his memory? It was unlikely, they all looked twenty or older, and he was only seventeen. Wasn't he? Great, now he was doubting his own age. What person didn't know his own age?

"Arthur? How long have you been awake?" Will looked at Arthur sleepily.

"Not long," Arthur said. "Will, is it normal for demigods to have weird dreams?"

"Weird dreams?" Will suddenly looked more alert. "Why do you ask? Did you have a dream?"

"I don't know," Arthur said. "It was really strange though." Hmm, what had they been talking about in the dream again? The conversation was rapidly fading from his mind. "I don't know why, but the people in the dream seemed familiar. What's really weird was that parts of their sentences were blurred out, like names and things like that. Their faces were blurred too."

"It's almost as if someone wanted to show you the vision," Will mused, "but at the same time they didn't want to give too much important information away. Can you remember what these people were saying?"

Arthur shook his head regretfully. "Not really. Sorry, Will."

"Not your fault, man," Will said. "Hey, let me take a look at your arms again. If they're fine then you can leave." Arthur nodded and obediently rolled up his sleeves. There wasn't a single mark from the spear. Even the scars were gone.

"I still don't get how that happened," Will said when he finished his checkup, "but you're clear. You should probably find Alfred, you saw how much he was freaking out last night."

Arthur agreed and left the infirmary. He headed back to his cabin, and the moment he opened the door he was hit by an American.

"Iggy! You're okay!" Alfred yelled happily as he wrapped Arthur in a huge hug, squeezing all the breath out of him.

"Let…go…" Arthur gasped. "Idiot… Can't… breathe…"

"Oh, sorry," Alfred said, letting go. Arthur bent over, taking deep breaths. Finally he asked, "Where's Feliciano?"

"Hanging out with Nico," Alfred replied. "Hey, Arthur, did you have a weird dream last night?"

"Weird dream?" Arthur said. "Actually, I did. Your dream, did it happen to take place in a…"

"Conference room?" Alfred finished. "Yeah, it did. There were about ten guys, right? With their faces and voices blurred."

"Yeah, exactly!" Arthur said. "And certain parts of their conversation were completely blurred out. Like names and other important information."

Alfred nodded. "We had the same dream then," he said. "Feliciano too. What d'you think it means?"

"Will said it might have been a vision sent by someone who wanted us to know _some_ things but not _everything_," Arthur replied. "That's probably most likely."

Alfred looked thoughtful. "Maybe." He brightened up. "Hey, you want to go canoeing or something?"

"Yeah, sure," Arthur said. Anything to take his mind off the dream. "Annabeth's not teaching us today?"

"No," Alfred said. "She said she had a meeting to go to or something like that."

"A meeting?"

* * *

"Sorry I'm late," Nico said, pushing open the door to the conference room. The other counselors and Chiron looked up. Nico gestured to Feliciano, who was practically hanging onto his arm. "I can't shake him off, literally. Is it okay if he's here?"

"As long as he doesn't say anything to the other campers," Chiron said. He gestured to the last open chair at the table. "Sit, and we can get started."

Nico glanced around the room for another chair for Feliciano. He sighed when he saw there wasn't one. He discreetly shuffled to the side of the room (as best he could, anyway) and stretched out his hand toward the ground. A chunk of black rock popped out and he shoved it next to his own chair.

"_You sit here, Feliciano," _Nico said in Italian. "_Try to stay quiet. You heard Chiron: nothing said in this room goes out of it unless he says so."_

Feliciano frowned, but nodded and sat down next to Nico. Nico sighed in relief and turned to the other counselors, in time to hear Clarisse say, "So, Chiron, are you going to tell us now?"

"Yeah, we've been waiting for weeks!"

"It's pretty obvious you're not telling us something…"

Mutterings of agreement with that last statement broke out among the counselors. Chiron cleared his throat.

"First, I must apologize to you all," he began. "Yes, I have been keeping things from you, and I'm sorry to say that I must continue. I will answer some of your questions at this council, though."

"What's up with sentry duty?" A counselor called.

"Ah, yes. Sentry duty." Chiron stroked his beard. "That has to do with the current situation on Olympus. To put it bluntly, the gods have declared war again."

The counselors, and Feliciano, stared at Chiron, then broke out into chatter. Rachel, the redheaded girl who played host to the Oracle of Delphi, loudly clapped her hands, getting everyone's attention. She gestured for Chiron to continue. He nodded to her in thanks before continuing.

"This time, our enemy is not one you are familiar with," Chiron said. "They are not monsters, but they are immortal. And there are barely over two hundred of them."

Chiron's statement caused the room to break out into questions and chatter again. Feliciano was uncharacteristically quiet. Chiron's words seemed to strike something within him. Immortal… and only about two hundred… why did that seem familiar?

A voice rose above the others. "Why are they such a big problem, if there are only two hundred of them and they're not monsters?"

"I don't know Zeus's exact reason for declaring war on them," Chiron said, and Feliciano noticed he avoided the question. "But, Lord Zeus is commanding us to begin the war."

Astonished gasps rang around the room. Chiron continued, his face dark.

"He knows that they are not willing to attack mortals," he said. "and Zeus wishes to use that to his advantage. He wants us to attack them using guerrilla tactics and gradually weaken them. The gods will attack once they are weakened."

"What about the Romans?" someone called.

"I have heard that the Camp Jupiter has received similar orders," Chiron replied.

"Last time I was there, Reyna and Frank both looked pretty tense," Jason recalled thoughtfully. "And everyone seemed to be a lot more active than usual. Maybe all their activity had to do with the declaration of war."

"I have a question," Annabeth said. "How do we fight them if we don't even know who or what they are?" Everyone could hear her implied question: _Why don't you tell us who they are?_

It seemed that Chiron had heard her hidden question too. "I'm sorry, but I won't reveal what they are exactly unless it is absolutely necessary," he said. "You will simply need to make do without that information for now." He looked around at the counselors, his eyes lingering on Feliciano. "I have nothing left to say. This meeting is adjourned. Remember, do not tell the other campers." He bowed his head, and left the room. When his tail disappeared out the door, the room broke into conversation, the counselors' voices growing louder with every passing second. Rachel spent nearly a minute trying to calm everyone down.

"Okay, you all heard Chiron," she said. "When the gods command, we'll attack." She looked around the table. "I don't know if this will make you feel any better, but the Oracle spoke a prophecy for Chiron. Hopefully he'll share it with us soon."

Jason spoke up in the silence that followed. "Well, now that we know our primary tactic will have to be guerrilla, we should start training for it," he said. "All counselors should train their cabins. Work together with other cabins. Practice in the woods and on other campers. Sharpen everyone's battle skills. We have to be prepared when the order comes. Understood?" Around the table, heads nodded. One by one, the counselors stood up and left. The meeting was over.

"Feliciano? Feliciano, are you listening?" Nico waved his hand in front of Feliciano, snapping him out of his daze.

"Huh? What?" Feliciano blinked.

"Are you okay?" Nico asked, concerned. "It's not like you to space out like that."

Feliciano put a hand to his forehead. "I'm sorry," he said. "It's just… my head is hurting, and I don't know why. All this," he gestured to the meeting room, "feels very familiar, but I can't tell from what, from when, from where! It's so frustrating!" His voice had gradually risen in volume, growing more and more distressed.

"It's okay," Nico soothed. He switched to Italian, knowing that speaking in Feliciano's native tongue made him feel more relaxed. "_Don't push yourself too hard, trying to remember. It's okay if you can't."_

"_Thanks, Nico," _Feliciano said quietly. "_I think I'm going to go back to my cabin now and lie down for a bit."_ He pushed himself off his rock-chair and headed for the door. Nico watched him leave, and wondered why and how the meeting had made Feliciano so distressed.

* * *

**For those of you who don't know, _guerrilla warfare_ is basically the opposite of battles; small groups indirectly attack the enemy through raids, sabotage, etc.**


	4. 1-3 I Have a Brother

**I do not own Hetalia or Percy Jackson and the Olympians.**

* * *

**Chapter Three: I Have a Brother**

* * *

Arthur and Alfred returned to their cabin from canoeing on the lake to find Feliciano hugging his knees and singing softly in Italian on his bed.

"Feliciano? Are you okay?" Alfred immediately rushed over to him. Feliciano didn't look up.

"What happened?" Arthur tried to place a comforting hand on Feliciano's back, only for the Italian to suddenly shriek in terror and scoot away.

"S-Stay away from me!" he squeaked, terrified. Arthur shot Alfred a confused look. Alfred shrugged. He didn't know what was going on either. They met each other's eyes and silently agreed to back off. As quietly as possible, they stepped back outside the cabin.

"What's up with him?" Alfred said. "D'you think we should call Will?"

Arthur frowned. Feliciano's behavior bothered him. "I think we should just wait for it to pass, whatever it is. Once he's calmed down we can talk with him."

Alfred nodded solemnly, then brightened up. "Hey, Iggy, you wanna go to the arena?"

"Sure," Arthur agreed. As they walked toward the arena, he asked, "Alfred, why do always like to call me Iggy? My name is Arthur; I can't find any connection."

Alfred looked thoughtful, an expression that was not commonly seen on his face. "I… I don't know. I just feel like I call you that a lot. I can't remember what the connection is either."

Arthur shrugged as they pushed open the arena door. The few campers that were there looked up, saw the duo, and cleared out almost immediately.

"I don't get why they do that, either," Arthur said idly as he and Alfred made their way to the weapons rack, picking out their usual swords. "It's not as though we'll suddenly decide to attack them."

"Nah, we're just too good for them!" Alfred replied cheerfully. "Let's go one-on-one, Artie! First one to get knocked down loses!"

"Alright, fine," Arthur said. "And don't call me Artie!"

* * *

"Ve, there you are!"

The cheerful, Italian-accented voice made both Arthur and Alfred whip around.

"Feliciano! Dude, are you feeling better?" Alfred yelled, running up to Feliciano and crushing him in a hug. Feliciano squeaked as all the air was squeezed from his lungs.

"Alfred, let go! Can't you see you're suffocating him?" Arthur scolded. He pried Alfred off. "Sorry about that, Feliciano. Are you feeling better now?"

"_Sì_," Feliciano replied. "Sorry about what happened in the cabin."

"What happened…? Oh, that!" Arthur suddenly remembered Feliciano screaming and scooting away from him. "What was that all about, anyway?"

"I'm not really sure," Feliciano said. "All I knew was that I didn't want you close to me."

"What about me?" Alfred asked, tugging them over to a bench. They sat down. "You didn't act like that around me."

"This is going to sound really weird," Feliciano started. Arthur realized with a start that his eyes were open. Oh, this must be really serious…

"I don't know why, but I felt _terrified _of you, Arthur." Feliciano's eyes were worried. "I think it has to do with our past."

"Why would I ever try to scare you?" Arthur asked, taken aback.

Feliciano shrugged. "I think the feeling was triggered, in a way."

"By what?" Alfred asked. "Do you think it might happen to me and Arthur too?"

"Well, I went to the meeting with Nico," Feliciano began. "It was a counselor meeting. And during the meeting I began to get this pounding headache, and a feeling that I had experienced something similar to that meeting before. When you two came back to the cabin, the feeling was still there, but when I saw you, Arthur, I just felt scared, and I felt like I didn't want you anywhere close to me. I don't know why."

"You're not still scared of me, are you?" Arthur asked nervously. Feliciano smiled at him. "Of course not. The feeling is gone now."

Arthur turned over everything Feliciano said in his head. Something about Feliciano's explanation bugged him. What was it? "Oh! Feliciano, did you say the _meeting_ felt familiar?"

"Yes, both the content and the way the meeting was conducted," Feliciano answered. "Why?"

Arthur desperately wanted to ask about the meeting's topic, but continued on with his original question. "On the first day, when you and Nico came to the arena last after our tours, I got this strange feeling that it was normal for you to be late for meetings. At the time I had no idea where the idea of _meetings_ came from, but maybe it has to do with the feeling you got today?"

"I think we can safely say that we have definitely attended meetings in the past," Alfred said. The other two stared at him. "What?"

"You're being serious and rational," Arthur said.

"Hey, it's not like I'm always goofing off! I can be serious too!"

Feliciano cleared his throat. "Anyway, I agree with Alfred; we've not only attended meetings in the past, but _a lot _of meetings. Otherwise, where would Arthur's feeling have come from?"

Arthur sighed. "I feel like we're trying to put together a puzzle, but there are a couple hundred pieces all scattered and hidden, _and_ we don't know what our final result is going to be. Why can't anyone give us any _straight, clear_ answers?"

Feliciano nodded in agreement, his eyes sliding closed. Alfred stood up and stretched his arms. "Well, no use moping about it. Hey, Feli! You wanna go one-on-one with me?"

* * *

The trio were still unclaimed by the next day, Friday, nearly two weeks since they had arrived. Nico remained the only one who knew about the way they smelled the dinner smoke.

This time, the cabins leading the two teams were Apollo and Ares. Ares had formed an alliance with Athena almost immediately (although Clarisse was obviously very unhappy with it). Will, the Apollo cabin counselor, approached the trio and asked them to join his team.

"Because," he had said, "if you guys are on the same team as Annabeth, the other team will be creamed." Of course, they had agreed; Will was one of the few campers who had treated them normally from the very beginning.

During dinner, Will beckoned Arthur over to the Apollo table before the latter could sit down. "Hey, Arthur."

"Will." Arthur greeted him, quickly walking over to the table. "What's up?"

"Could you let Alfred and Feliciano know about their positions tonight?" he asked. "I want you and Feliciano on offensive, and Alfred on border patrol."

Arthur nodded. "Sure. Nico's playing for Ares, right?" Feliciano had been rather distraught when he found out the news, and the fact that it was only a game didn't reassure him. It was only when a Demeter camper gave him something good to eat did he finally calm down.

"Yeah, so I want you to cover for Feli when you go into enemy territory," Will replied. Arthur nodded again and left, heading for the Poseidon table. He slid onto the bench next to Percy and leaned over the table to whisper to Alfred and Feliciano, "Will just told me our positions. Alfred, you're on border patrol. Feliciano is on the offensive with me."

Feliciano made a pouty face. "Why does everyone like putting me on the offensive?"

Alfred rolled his eyes. "Because you run fast. Didn't you figure it out?"

Percy turned to them. "Hey, you might not want to discuss your plans in front of someone from the other team."

Nico huffed in annoyance. "Even if I heard it, I can't do anything about it."

"You could tell Annabeth, I'm sure she could think of something to counter it," Feliciano suggested.

"Feliciano!" Arthur cried in exasperation. Alfred face-palmed, and Percy heaved a heavy sigh as Feliciano smiled happily, completely oblivious to what he had just done.

* * *

The game started the same way as last time. Chiron declared which team was which, and which cabin led each team. Just as before, he spread his hands and the weapons, shields, and armor magically appeared. Arthur took up his usual sword, but this time didn't even take the breastplate. He found Feliciano talking to an Aphrodite camper.

"And she was really pretty! Oh, but you're pretty too, you know that?" he was saying. The Aphrodite girl giggled flirtatiously. Arthur marched up to the pair and literally grabbed Feliciano and dragged him away. The girl waved daintily to him as they left.

"Aww, Arthur, why'd you do that?" Feliciano complained once Arthur let go of him.

"In case you hadn't noticed, the game is starting," Arthur growled. "We have to get in position. Do you have all your equipment?"

Feliciano held up his spear. "All I need is this!"

Arthur nodded. "Let's go, then." He and Feliciano pushed their way towards the front of the red team. The horn sounded and the game began. Out of the corner of his eye, Arthur saw Feliciano's smile drop from his face as the brunette glanced (if it is possible to glance with closed eyes) around, taking in his surroundings as clashes broke out between the blue and red teams. Arthur analyzed the situation as well. Most of the campers had already left the clearing next to the stream, and he could see Alfred drawing attention to himself, holding off the blue team and creating an opening for them. Feliciano clearly saw this as well, and lightly tapped Arthur's shoulder before dashing across the stream. Arthur followed, trying to keep up with the swift-footed Italian while focusing his mind, in case he needed his magic.

Feliciano and Arthur wove through the trees, avoiding the blue defenders. Eventually they met a group of defenders in a small clearing. Without hesitation the pair sprang into battle. A few _thunk_s and flashes of light later, the defenders were groaning on the ground as Feliciano and Arthur continued into the trees, the last traces of Arthur's bluish-green magic flickering out of existence in their wake.

They finally skidded to a halt at the edge of a small field, and what seemed like half the blue team was spread across it. In the middle was a large pile of boulders. Perched on top of the boulders was the blue flag, a red banner with a boar's head and a spear on it.

"There are a lot of defenders," Arthur noted. "We'll need a distraction of some sort." Feliciano nodded. "Do you think we should wait a little?" he asked.

"Let's see if any of our players get over here," Arthur replied. "If none show up within three minutes, then I'll create a distraction." Feliciano nodded, and Arthur closed his eyes, attempting an invisibility charm. He had been experimenting and practicing it for a few days but it wasn't perfect yet. Hopefully, under the cover of a darkening sky, it would be enough. They settled in to wait.

About a minute later, some of the blue defenders left the clearing, probably to go on the offensive. Just when Arthur was going to release the charm and create his distraction, someone stumbled into him. The spell dissipated, and Arthur cursed inwardly. He and Feliciano spun around, ready to take on whoever it was. Feliciano immediately thrust out his spear, causing Conner and Travis Stoll, twin counselors of the Hermes cabin and also playing for red, to stumble back with their hands up. Seeing who it was, Feliciano lowered the spear. Both campers sighed in relief before breaking into identical grins.

"Great, you two are here," Connor (or was it Travis?) whispered. "Now maybe we actually have a chance."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Do you have a plan?"

The twins glanced at each other. "Well… no."

Arthur scowled. "Then we'll go with mine. See all those defenders? We can't just charge past them. We'll need a distraction of some sort so that Feliciano will have an opening to get the flag."

Connor rubbed his hands together. "If it's a distraction you want, it's a distraction you'll get."

* * *

Needless to say the blue defenders were quite startled when a horde of fairies, spirits, ghosts, and red campers burst out of the trees. Several screamed and fled. Others swiped at the creatures, which appeared to always flit out of reach just in time. Some of the more perceptive defenders might have noticed the "red players" had blurred, generic faces in the daytime, but under the dark night sky with the clearing barely lit it was getting harder and harder to see.

In reality, they were all illusions, except for Connor, who was leading the illusory red team. Several times the "fairies" and "spirits" really did get hit, but, as everyone knows, one cannot hit an illusion with a sword, even if it was a Celestial bronze blade, but Arthur controlled the illusions in such a way that they appeared to dodge when they had really been hit. It wouldn't last long, though. Some defenders were already becoming confused as to why their weapons never connected with their opponents', even though Connor raced around intercepting swords and spears, trying to wreck as much havoc as possible before Arthur's illusion failed. In the midst of the confusion, two actual red players slipped into the field and headed for the pile of boulders.

Nico di Angelo had been put on guard duty. He was required to stay by the flag, because Annabeth was absolutely sure Feliciano would be sent to take the flag. She was right. He drew his sword as the Italian dashed out of the trees with Travis by his side. Both had their spears drawn. Surprisingly, they skidded to a stop a few yards away from Nico.

Feliciano pointed his spear at Nico. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way," he said, all cheerfulness gone from his voice. "If you don't move, we'll make you." Nico gulped nervously, but raised his sword in a ready stance. He was so focused on Feliciano that he hadn't noticed Travis slip around to his side. At a slight nod from Feliciano, the Hermes camper lunged, knocking Nico off his feet. Feliciano dashed past him and snatched the flag so quickly that for a moment Nico couldn't comprehend the fact that Feliciano was no longer in front of him and that said brunette was running like the wind back towards the creek. Travis leaped up and followed. Nico cursed and reached into his shirt, pulling out a whistle and blowing hard, sending a shrill whistle blast through the trees. This was the signal for any blue player close to the creek to be alert, and that the blue flag had been taken. Then he joined the chaos in the clearing around the boulder pile once known as Zeus's Fist. Nico concentrated as he fought, trying to control the ghosts. Not a single one responded. The realization hit him as all the fairies, ghosts, spirits, and campers disappeared.

_Illusions!_ He should've known from the moment he saw Feliciano that Arthur would be the Italian's cover. Nico's dark eyes swept the edge of the clearing, knowing from personal experience that performing magic as big and complex as the illusion would take a lot of energy. Sure enough, there was a disturbance near the bushes. He slipped through the confused defenders and headed for the trees. The rustling started moving away from him, but it was much too slow.

"Got you!" Nico burst through the branches, practically pouncing onto Arthur. Nico's sword was drawn, but it was clear at once that Arthur was in no state to defend himself. His emerald eyes were dulled, his footsteps heavy and the tip of his sword dragged on the ground. The illusions had clearly taken their toll on him. Arthur looked at Nico tiredly and said, "I'm not going to fight."

Nico didn't relax as he placed a hand onto Arthur's shoulder. "To the jail, then," he said, turning the blonde towards the blue prison. Distantly, both of them heard cheers erupt from the direction of the stream. "Or not," Nico amended. The words were barely out of his mouth when a scream split the air, a scream filled with pain. There was only once person it could have come from. Nico and Arthur locked eyes, and immediately they turned around and rushed for the stream, hoping desperately that Feliciano was all right.

* * *

After he grabbed the flag, Feliciano turned and shot towards the creek like a rocket, running as fast as his legs would carry him. The whistle rang out behind him, and it was immediately obvious as to what it signaled; every visible blue player in front of him whipped around with weapons drawn. Feliciano tried to shove them out of the way with his spear, but using a spear with only one hand is not the most powerful or effective way to use a long range weapon. He struggled to dodge the oncoming defenders, darting from side to side. _Just hold on a little longer!_ To his relief, he could see reinforcements running towards him. He barreled his way through two blue defenders and shoved the flag into another Hermes camper's hands. The guy took the flag and ran for the creek, less than twenty yards away. Cheers exploded from the red team's side as he leaped over, the flag shimmering and changing to white with a caduceus in the middle.

Feliciano stumbled to a stop, the adrenaline fading. His heartbeat slowed, but not by much; he'd noticed early on that his heart beat abnormally fast. Not that he knew why. He lowered his spear and relaxed. The wind felt cool and gentle on his tired body – until a sharp pain suddenly ripped through his abdomen. Feliciano couldn't stop his scream. The pain was like a sharp blade carving its way through his body, going from his right hip to just below his rib cage. Feliciano's legs gave out, and he crumpled to the ground. He was vaguely aware of campers running towards him from both sides of the creek. Alfred was there in an instant, cradling Feliciano's body. Feliciano barely heard him say, "Feliciano, stay with me! What's wrong? Feliciano!" before he slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

Arthur and Nico ran up to see a crowd of campers already gathered by the creek. Everyone was trying to see what happened, the flags forgotten. Arthur reached the edge of the crowd and shoved through to the middle. The sight that met his eyes made his heart drop into his stomach.

Alfred knelt on the ground, cradling a passed-out Feliciano's head in his arms. Feliciano barely seemed to be breathing, but strangely there was no visible wound anywhere. Arthur knelt down next to Alfred. "What happened?"

Alfred shrugged. "I don't know. Feliciano just screamed and fell down. No one was anywhere close to him."

Arthur gently placed a hand on Feliciano's forehead. It felt normal, and he gently moved his hands to Feliciano's neck, feeling for a pulse. His own heartbeat quickened when he found that Feliciano's pulse had dropped to that of a normal person's.

"Something's not right," Arthur mumbled, lightly skimming his fingers over the rest of Feliciano's body. "Why isn't he waking up?"

Both Alfred and Arthur looked up when they heard hooves. Chiron carefully stepped to Feliciano's side and looked him over. His face darkened with worry.

"Everyone, return to your cabins," he ordered. "Except Will. Will, come here."

There were unsatisfied mutterings from the crowd, but Clarisse shouted, "You heard him! Back to your cabins!" and the campers obeyed and left the clearing. Will pushed through the retreating backs of the campers and ran over with Nico by his side.

"Will, can you tell what happened?" Chiron asked. "According to Alfred, Feliciano just collapsed without warning. And it doesn't seem like Arthur has found anything wrong yet."

"Hmm." Will knelt down and repeated Arthur's actions, checking Feliciano's pulse and temperature. "Weird… His temperature's fine, and his pulse is normal, but I don't see any injuries. He's fine, apart from the fact that he suddenly dropped unconscious."

Arthur hesitated before saying, "No, he's not. His heart's beating too slowly."

Nico felt Feliciano's neck, and gave Arthur a strange look. "Slowly? Even I can tell that's normal for people. And I'm not a medic."

Alfred shook his head. "No, his pulse should be at _this_ speed." He grabbed Will and Nico's hands and pressed them to his own neck. Will's eyes widened at the rapid drumming he felt under his fingers. "What the heck? Arthur, is your pulse like that too?"

Arthur nodded reluctantly.

Will stood up, looking visibly disturbed. "Something's not right. I want the three of you to spend the night in the infirmary. I'll get my siblings to do a thorough checkup. Hopefully Feliciano can tell us what happened when he wakes up." His tone made it clear he would not take no for an answer.

* * *

For the second time, Arthur found himself in the infirmary after a capture the flag game, this time with his friends lying in the beds next to him. True to his word, Will had gathered the rest of the Apollo cabin and led a complete medical checkup. They were still analyzing their data, but from what Arthur had heard they hadn't drawn any conclusions yet. He sighed. Maybe if his memories returned their questions would be answered. Arthur suddenly wondered why he had lost his memories in the first place. Did he really get amnesia? Or did someone _take_ them? In the world of demigods and monsters, that was definitely possible.

"Hey, Alfred," he called to the sandy-haired boy. "How do you think we lost our memories?"

Alfred blinked. "How?"

"Yeah. Did we really just lose them, or did someone take them from us?"

Alfred looked thoughtful. "I don't know, but it doesn't seem likely for three overage demigods to show up at camp, all together, and all without memories. Someone must have taken them, or maybe erased them."

"Mmm," Arthur said thoughtfully. He glanced around the dark, empty infirmary before saying, "We're not demigods, are we?"

Alfred nodded. "Definitely. Don't know how I know, but it's definitely true."

"I don't think we're mortal though," Arthur continued. "At least, not entirely mortal."

"What are we, then?" Alfred asked. "The other nymphs and satyrs at camp would probably be able to tell if we're something else."

Arthur was trying to think of a reply when he was interrupted by a groan. Feliciano was awake.

"Feliciano! Are you okay?" Alfred was by the Italian's bed in an instant.

"Ow…" Feliciano rubbed his head. "It hurts… and I have a headache."

Arthur swung his legs over the side of his bed so he was facing the other two. "Where does it hurt?"

Feliciano traced his hand along his abdomen. "Here, up to here. It feels like a cut, but nothing's there."

"That's weird," Arthur said, frowning. "Why would you feel something that isn't there?"

"Maybe he was feeling someone else's pain," Alfred suggested.

"Oh, don't be silly Alfred, that's not possible…" Arthur started to scold the younger boy but stopped when Feliciano's eyes flicked open.

"I think he's right," Feliciano said, brown eyes flickering with a mixture of hope and uncertainty. "This pain isn't mine, it's someone else's. A relative, probably."

"Who, then?" Arthur asked. "That relative that told you about mythology?"

"Or maybe a sibling?" Alfred suggested. "Like a twin. A twin would make sense."

Feliciano nodded. "I think-" He suddenly gasped and clutched his head. A low moan escaped his lips.

"Feliciano? What's happening?" Alfred asked worriedly.

"My head," Feliciano groaned. "It hurts."

The other two had no choice but to wait for Feliciano's pain to subside. Feliciano finally calmed down, taking deep breaths.

"Are you feeling better now, Feliciano?" Arthur asked. Feliciano nodded.

"Alfred is right," he said. "I know where my pain is coming from."

"Where?" Alfred asked. "Wait, do you actually have a sibling?"

Feliciano nodded. "I have a brother. And he's been recently injured. This pain isn't mine, it's his. I'm sure of it."

* * *

**Happy Memorial Day to all you Americans! Since I'm American and therefore have a day off, I decided to finish this chapter. Yay!**

**I have been getting this question over and over: When are Canada and Romano going to appear?**

**Well, there are two ways to answer this.**

**1) Go read my story on Quotev. Because FanFiction doesn't allow "chapters" with just a title or table of contents or something on it, I wasn't quite sure how to show the different parts. But Quotev is a lot more relaxed, so it should be a little clearer.**

**2) I have re-edited the titles of each chapter. The first number is the part and the second number is the chapter. In the first chapter of every part I will write the part's name.**

**Some of you may notice that the part's name is similar the chapter names in the Hetalia fangame _Hetalia Quest _or _Hetaquest_. This story is based on Hetaquest. Barely. Only a little.**

**If you guys are still confused, PM me. And thank you to everyone who reviewed!**


	5. 1-4 First Allies

**I do not own PJO or Hetalia.**

* * *

Will dismissed Arthur and Alfred from the infirmary the next morning, saying that despite all their efforts the Apollo cabin had not found the cause of their extra-fast heartbeats, their healing abilities, or Feliciano's collapse the night before. The Italian would stay in the infirmary for a bit longer to rest while the other two were free to go. Before they left, Feliciano quietly asked them not to tell Will about his brother just yet, and that they should find Percy or Jason once they left. With nothing better to do, the other two decided to listen to what the third had said. After a bit of searching, they found Jason outside the Iris cabin talking to the counselor, Butch.

"…and remember to tell Chiron if you see anything out of place," Jason finished as Arthur and Alfred ran up. Alfred tapped his shoulder before Arthur could stop him from interrupting.

"Hey, Jason, Feliciano told us to find you. Do you know why?"

Jason blinked. "Feliciano asked you…? Oh, right, he was at the meeting." He paused and thought for a second. "The Ares cabin was asking to do a training exercise earlier, so could you two help them out? Just find Clarisse, she'll tell you what to do."

"Okay. Thanks, Jason," Arthur said.

Jason just nodded and turned his attention back to the Iris cabin.

The duo found Clarisse and her cabin by the lake, talking to Percy.

"Hey, Clarisse!" Alfred yelled as they jogged up. "Jason told us to find you. He said you wanted help in a training exercise?"

Clarisse scowled. "I don't need _help_. I just need someone to be my cabin's opponents."

"And now you have them, so leave alone," Percy broke in, saying. "I have to train the Hermes and Dionysus cabins in water combat, so take your exercise to the forest or something."

"We were going there anyway," Clarisse growled. She turned to her siblings. "Go to the forest," she ordered. "We'll meet by Zeus's Fist. I'll be there in a few minutes; I need to tell these two what we'll be doing. So just get over there and wait. Clear?" The rest of the Ares cabin nodded and ran off. Clarisse turned to Arthur and Alfred. "You two got your weapons?"

"Um… no," Arthur admitted. "We just came from the infirmary, so there was no time to pick them up."

Clarisse grunted. "Let's get them, then. I'll explain the exercise on the way."

"What about the rest of your cabin?" Alfred asked. "Don't you need to brief them, too?"

"They already know, so shut up and let's go."

Alfred laughed. "That rhymed!"

Arthur whacked him over the head in annoyance.

* * *

As they headed to the armory to get their weapons, Clarisse explained what they would be doing. The Ares cabin would be practicing a raid on the opponent's supply stores. Arthur and Alfred would be the enemy guarding several piles of branches. Their goal was to "capture" all the campers by tagging them on the chest. If they tagged all the Ares campers before all the branches were broken, they won. A captured camper was not allowed to attack, but they could be "freed" if they were tagged on the chest again by another camper.

"Doesn't this seem a little unrealistic?" Arthur asked, a little cautiously; he didn't want to make Clarisse angry. "Do we even know if our enemies will take prisoners? I thought monsters would just try to kill us outright."

"No, we don't," Clarisse replied. "But it's the best we can do with what little information we have. And this exercise isn't designed with monsters in mind."

"Then what's it designed for?" Alfred asked.

Clarisse tensed. "Can't tell you yet."

Alfred rolled his eyes. "Fine, be that way."

They arrived at the armory, and Alfred and Arthur quickly grabbed their usual weapons. The trio started toward the forest.

"Hey, Clarisse, why'd you suddenly decide to do a supply raid?" Alfred asked. "I don't think monsters even _have_ supplies."

"Monsters need weapons and armor too," Clarisse replied. "But I already told you, this exercise wasn't designed with monsters in mind."

"Then why a supply raid?" Alfred pressed. "You still didn't answer my question."

"Because I _can't_," Clarisse growled back at him. "I'm not allowed to until Chiron says so."

"Was this reason, by any chance, discussed at the recent counselor meeting?" Arthur broke in.

Clarisse hesitated for a second, then replied, "Yes."

"Tell us, please!" Alfred begged. "We're helping you in your exercise!"

"No."

"We won't tell anyone else!"

"No."

"Clarisse, you may as well tell us right now," Arthur said, "because if you don't, we'll have to listen to Alfred's whining all the way to the forest."

"Still no," Clarisse said, though she seemed to be cracking a little. Arthur pushed a little more.

"Besides, if you don't tell, Feliciano will."

"Feliciano?" Clarisse frowned. "How would he know?"

"Oh, yeah," Alfred said, perking up. "He was at the counselor meeting too. I completely forgot!"

"I'm not surprised," Arthur muttered.

Clarisse sighed. "I hate to admit it, but I did too. He was so quiet I barely even noticed him."

"So can you tell us?" Alfred asked, going back to begging her. "Please, please, please?" He gave her a puppy-dog eyed look, and she finally gave in.

"Fine, I will, if you will shut up the rest of the way to the forest!" Clarisse snapped. She took a breath to calm herself down, then said, "To put it simply, the gods have declared war on an enemy that we don't even know the name or species of. We were ordered to attack them using guerilla tactics. The only thing we know about them is that they're not very willing to attack us, which is why I'm fairly certain they'll take prisoners." She glared at Alfred. "Happy now?"

"Yup!"

"Good, now shut up."

They found the Ares cabin armed and ready by the same pile of rocks Feliciano had taken the flag from the night before. One guy jogged up to the trio as they approached.

"Clarisse, we gathered the branches while we were waiting," he reported. "They're in a big pile by the base of Zeus's First." Clarisse nodded. "Thanks, Eli. Just leave them there for now."

Alfred squinted at the rock pile. "Is this Zeus's Fist? Looks like a big pile of poop to me."

The Ares camper, Eli, rolled his eyes. "We wanted to rename it the Poop Pile, but Chiron wouldn't let us, since it was already named for Zeus."

Alfred opened his mouth to reply, but Arthur cut him off. "Talk later, Alfred. Clarisse is waiting and it doesn't look like she's in a good mood right now."

Clarisse certainly didn't look like she was in a good mood, but then again she looked like that most of the time anyway. She glared at all the assembled campers and barked, "Line up!" Once all the campers were in an orderly line, she continued. "This is how we'll start. You two," she pointed at Alfred and Arthur, "will start at Zeus's Fist. You can arrange the branches in any way you want, as long as they are at least partially visible. Me and my cabin (_"My cabin and I_," Arthur growled under his breath. Alfred smacked his arm. "Not now.") will start at the stream. When I blow my whistle, we'll begin. The 'jail' is on the far side of the clearing from the stream. Understand?" Everyone nodded, then the Ares campers went to gather up their equipment and head to the stream. Alfred and Arthur trudged over to the pile of sticks.

"So, how're we gonna set 'em up, Iggy?" Alfred asked.

"First, it's 'going to' and 'set them', not 'gonna' or 'set 'em'," Arthur shot back. "And second, my name isn't Iggy."

Alfred rolled his eyes. "Relax, Arthur. Besides, you're literally the only person in the whole camp who speaks British English."

"I'm correcting your _grammar_, not your American English," Arthur replied snidely. "because I know there's no way I can fix _that_. As for how we should set them up, we should set them up so that we can easily protect them. That's how our actual enemies would do it, right?"

"Oh, _now_ you're asking me?" Alfred said sarcastically. Arthur rolled his eyes and picked up a few branches, wedging them into cracks in the rocks, leaving as little poking out as possible. "Shut up and help."

"Fine." Alfred had just jammed his first branch into a crack when a piercing whistle sounded out. Arthur growled angrily and shoved the rest of the sticks under the rocks as best he could. He drew his sword as Alfred messily stuffed his branches into random cracks, almost snapping some of them.

"Alfred, you take one side of the rocks, I'll take the other," Arthur ordered, already moving into position. He heard the fifteen-year old grumbling as he drew his sword with a _shink_.

They stood in battle stances, waiting for the attackers. A minute passed in tense silence. Then two. Then five. By then, Arthur had gone back to wedging sticks into cracks while Alfred just leaned lazily against the rock.

"Are you going to help?" Arthur said, grunting a little as he shoved a particularly large branch halfway into a crack.

"Nah," Alfred replied. "Besides, it looks like you're done, anyway."

Arthur rolled his eyes as he stepped back from the rock to look over his handiwork. About half the original pile of sticks had been shoved into every nook and cranny they could fit in, while the other half lay on the ground in a smaller pile.

"Yeah, I'm done," Arthur said with a small sigh. "Where's Clarisse? It's been-" He checked his watch. "-almost ten minutes. How are they still not here?"

"Dunno, maybe they're-" Alfred suddenly tensed, standing up straight and scanning the area. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Arthur asked, looking around.

"I thought I heard something…" Alfred glanced around one last time, before relaxing a little. "It's probably nothing."

The words were barely out of his mouth before he was suddenly slammed to the ground. Arthur didn't even have time to turn and see his attacker before he was knocked down. He felt the ground shaking as more campers ran into the clearing. Hands latched onto his shoulders and started dragging him away from Zeus's Fist. Arthur gritted his teeth and concentrated, before letting his magic explode from his palm, throwing the three Ares campers off him. The shockwave travelled through the rest of the clearing, and Arthur heard a few snapping sounds behind him as some of the branches broke. _Oops._

By then, the entire Ares cabin had joined the fight. Arthur sent out another blast of magical energy before whipping around and running back to where Alfred was fending off five campers at once. More snaps sounded out as campers broke through Alfred's one-man defense and reached the branches. Arthur tagged two campers as he ran by them. He managed to sneak his hand around one of Alfred's attackers and tap the girl on the chest. She froze in surprise. Arthur pushed past her to Alfred, sword at the ready.

"Arthur! What are you doing back here?" Alfred hissed.

"Helping you!" Arthur grunted as he parried a vicious downward cut from an attacking camper's sword. "Why aren't you tagging them?"

"It's not easy to tag a moving target with a sword!"

"They're wearing armor! Your sword's not going to hurt them!" Arthur replied scathingly. "Just tag them like this." He swung at a camper's sword, locking their blades together. Arthur forced the swords to the side, then lunged forward to slap the guy's breastplate with a _clang_. The camper slumped dejectedly and trudged away.

"But what if I hurt them?" Alfred said. "With… you know… that!"

Arthur knew what the younger teen was talking about. A few days ago, the three of them had been working in the forge. When Alfred went to hammer a strip of metal, he hit it so hard a piece of the metal snapped off. When he hit it again, though, the metal bent the way it was supposed to. Alfred's bouts of unusual strength came irregularly, with no visible pattern; he had almost broken Feliciano's arm when they were sparring two days after the forge incident, but he didn't even nick a rock he accidently hit with his sword later that day.

"If you're scared of hurting someone, then disarm them!" Arthur yelled. "Use that technique Percy showed us! [1]" In case Alfred didn't get it, he twisted a camper's sword out of her grip, then lunged forward to tag her on the chest. Arthur was relieved to see another sword fall to the ground out of the corner of his eye.

They continued fighting side by side, tagging and disarming as best they could as they slowly maneuvered themselves closer to the "weapons", which were rapidly being broken.

"Arthur!" Alfred called. Arthur glanced over to him briefly. "Go and defend the sticks over there! I'll take these guys here!"

"Why would I do that?"

"Just go! I can handle them!"

Arthur growled in annoyance before tagging a camper and sprinting toward the sticks. A girl was raising her sword above her, ready to smash the small pile of sticks she had pulled out of the rocks. Arthur dashed in front of her, parrying the blow and kicking away the sticks. He looked up and saw it was Clarisse. She smirked as she pressed her sword harder onto his. "Having fun, Arthur?"

"It's alright," Arthur replied evenly. He drew his left hand back, and shot it back out at her, palm flat, sending Clarisse off her feet with the same nonverbal spell he had shot at Annabeth on the first day. He approached the downed counselor warily, knowing she could spring up and attack at any time. Before he could tag her, though, a horn sounded through the forest, long and low. Arthur looked around before realizing that Clarisse had gotten to her feet. Her sword was down; she wasn't going to fight.

"Clarisse?" Arthur asked. "What does that mean?"

"The horn?" Clarisse turned to him. "It means we have allies approaching the camp, and I think I know who they are."

* * *

Arthur and Alfred found Feliciano standing at the edge of the crowd that had gathered at the base of Half-Blood Hill.

"What's going on?" Alfred asked. "Who's here?"

Feliciano shrugged. "I'm not sure… everyone else seems to know, though."

"Why don't you just ask?" Arthur said.

"Everyone's ignoring me…"

With nothing else to say, they fell silent, staring towards the top of the hill. Then, a wolf leaped onto the crest of the hill and seemed to survey the assembled campers. It looked behind it and let out a short bark. A few seconds later, a group of girls dressed in camouflage appeared over the top of the hill, sending a murmur through the campers. The girls all carried bows and knives. A few of them had falcons perched on their arms, while more birds wheeled above them in the clear, cloudless sky. More wolves trotted beside them.

"Who are they?" Feliciano asked. He was finally noticed by a nearby camper, who turned around to give him a strange look. "Dude, how do you not know them? They're the Hunters!"

Alfred gave him a blank look. "Who?"

"The Hunters of Artemis," the guy said. "No one told you about them?"

"No," Arthur replied. "Were we supposed to know about them?"

"Duh, everyone knows about them."

His friend swatted his shoulder gently. "Don't be mean, Owen. They're still relatively new." He turned to Arthur, Alfred, and Feliciano. "The Hunters are a group of girls blessed by the goddess Artemis. They're immortal unless killed in battle, and they go around hunting monsters." His eyes took on a slightly dreamy look. "Some of them are really hot… but they took a vow to never fall in love, so we can't date them…"

They turned back to the hill. Most of the Hunters had already headed down the hill, but Chiron, Percy, Jason, and Annabeth were at the top, talking to a dark-haired girl with a glint of silver in her hair. Glancing around, Arthur saw the rest of the campers dispersing. He turned to Alfred and Feliciano. "So… what do we do now?"

Alfred shrugged. "Go back to the exercise?"

"What exercise?" Feliciano asked.

"We were doing a training exercise with the Ares cabin when the Hunters arrived," Arthur explained. "If you're feeling better, you can help us out. We're losing."

"No, we're not!" Alfred argued. "We're totally winning! But we could use some help if you're feeling better, Feli."

Feliciano shrugged. "Sure, I think I can fight."

"Great!" Alfred almost yelled in his excitement. "You'll be my backup, then!"

Arthur almost facepalmed. Instead, he just heaved a heavy sigh. "Let's go find Clarisse."

The Ares cabin was rather easy to find, since all of them still had their weapons. Most of the campers were trying to avoid gutting other demigods on their spears like shish-kabobs, so they had their spears pointed in the air, so the whole cabin looked like a large, armored porcupine.

"Clarisse! Can Feliciano be on our side in the training exercise?" Alfred shouted.

Clarisse considered this for a moment, then nodded. "If he's fit to fight, then yes. Alfred, get him a weapon. Arthur, brief him on what we're doing."

"Why can't I tell him?" Alfred complained.

"Because you would tell him _your_ version of the exercise, which is probably not what we're really doing." Clarisse turned away, indicating the conversation was over. Alfred huffed unhappily, then turned and ran off to the armory.

"So, what's the exercise?" Feliciano asked.

"Well, it's meant to simulate a raid on an enemy's supplies," Arthur replied. "Here's how it works. The sticks and branches are the 'weapons' and 'supplies', and you, me, and Alfred are the enemy…"

* * *

[1] _that technique Percy showed us_: It's the same disarming technique Luke first taught Percy, way back in the first book.

**I'm so sorry! This is more than a month overdue because:  
\- I had writer's block  
\- Whenever I got my motivation back, my teachers overloaded me with schoolwork.  
\- I am a really bad procrastinator**

**Seriously, though, this chapter was really hard to write. I couldn't think of how to end the training exercise, so I was stuck for a long time thinking "What do I do?" Finally I just decided to split the next event, the Hunters' arrival, and use that to end the chapter.**

**Good news, though! It seems Romano and Canada are hugely popular characters because everyone has been saying, "Where are Romano and Canada?" Well, they finally show up next chapter, because it will be the last chapter in Part One! Then you'll have all the Romano and Canada you can handle in Part Two.**

**Also, I changed the prophecy, but I'll probably have to change it again. Someone asked me why Zeus randomly declared war on the countries. It wasn't random, I promise! Go back to Chapter 1-1 and maybe you can figure it out.**

**Again, I'm sorry for the super-late chapter. A huge thanks to everyone who patiently waited and an even bigger thanks to all the reviewers who said, "Hurry up and update!" to me. See you next chapter! (Read: in a month or two!)**

_**Edit 10/31: I noticed a really bad typo that bothered me so much I couldn't wait until the next update to fix it. Sorry if you thought this was an update!**_


	6. 1-5 The Other Half

**I do not own Hetalia or Percy Jackson.**

* * *

**Chapter 5: The Other Half**

* * *

It was a beautiful day on Olympus, like usual. The sun shone brightly as puffy clouds glided on a gently breeze. Birds and nymphs played among the trees, and the minor gods and spirits chattered in the marketplace. On the tall hill, cows and other grazing animals lazily walked around, enjoying the sun.

All this went unnoticed by the goddess in the temple at the top of the hill. Hera concentrated as she gently wove her magic into the cracks of the floating orb before her, sealing up the pearly glass. Behind her floated four more orbs, each with a spider-web of cracks marring their surfaces. Within all five orbs swirled a bundle of pale gray mist. If one looked closely into the orbs, they may catch glimpses of glinting bayonets and majestic wooden ships, beautifully blended paintings and snow covered forests, since the orbs currently held the memories of five centuries-old nations.

The cause of the cracks was the memories themselves. Memories do not like to be confined and separated from the one they belong to. Because of this, the nations' memories constantly pushed at the inside of the orbs. When she had done this before with Percy and Jason, the orbs had suffered minimal damage. The main problem this time was that there were just _so many_ memories. Hera could practically feel the pressure of America's memories as she repaired his orb. She had started with the youngest nation's orb, assuming that it would be easier to fix, but she hadn't anticipated the strength of his memories, many of which detailed the superpower's turbulent history.

For extra security, she added another layer of magic to his orb before pushing it to the side. Then she pulled Canada's orb toward her and started the process again. The northern nation's orb was a little easier to deal with, probably due to his quiet nature. She quickly finished the reparations and moved on to North Italy's orb. His memories emanated an almost visible aura of energy and happiness. She could practically see light coming out of the cracks, and almost felt bad as she cut off the radiance.

She had just reached for South Italy's orb when someone rapped on the door, causing her to lose control for a second and bumping the orb against the wall. She cursed and threw a layer of magic over the orb, but it was too late; a wisp of memory mist had already escaped. Hera glared at the offending sphere and tightened the layer of magic before going to answer the door. She composed herself before opening the door to reveal a slightly nervous-looking satyr.

"What is it?" Hera asked.

"Lady Hera, I-I have a message from Lord Zeus…" the satyr trailed off, seeing Hera's irritated expression.

"Well, say it," Hera said. "I haven't got all day."

The satyr let out a small _eep_ before clearing his throat and continuing. "Lord Zeus would like to inform you of a war meeting during and after dinner. He expects you to be there on time."

Hera scowled, causing the satyr to shiver in fear. "Very well. You are dismissed." The satyr bowed before starting down the hill. Hera sighed and closed the door, massaging her temples before returning to her work. It was tiring, after all. She had to constantly use her magic to keep the five nations hidden, and now she had to mend the orbs; no wonder her temper was running short.

South Italy's orb had proven harder to deal with than she had originally anticipated, and by the time she finished it was almost time to meet Zeus. She started in on England's orb with a newfound urgency. She had just wrapped a layer of magic around it when a shout startled her, causing her to lose her concentration again. "HEEEEEERAAAAAAAA!"

Hera whipped around and glared at the door. Behind her, England's orb clinked against the other orbs, loosening the layer of magic around it and letting a small strand of mist slip out and fly out the window. Hera turned around and threw a few more layers of magic around the orb before going to deal with a particularly annoying messenger god.

Unnoticed by Hera, the memory floated through the closed window and shot toward a particular cabin close to Long Island Sound. There, it sought out a currently sleeping camper and settled into its rightful place in his mind, satisfied at last.

~.~+~.~

_Images and sounds flashed around Arthur. It was hard to make sense of it all. Every now and then a comprehensible phrase or clearer image would slice through._

_ "We finally invented a machine that can make perfect boiled eggs!" [1]_

_ Arthur sat in a warm pool, facing a creature with a duck beak, bald head, and turtle's shell…[2]_

_ "Black sheep of Europe! Black sheep of Europe!"_

_ Suddenly, the hurricane of images stabilized into a single clear scene…_

_Arthur sat on a grassy hill. The sun shone bright in the sky. He wore an old-fashioned, bright red uniform with a white sash across his chest. Beside him sat a man with neat, dark hair except for one unruly curl. Square glasses framed his dark indigo eyes. He wore a white uniform with blue cuffs and highlights, and his overall stature suggested aristocracy and nobility. A brown horse grazed nearby._

_ "There, I boldly rose against France," Arthur was saying smugly. "Then he got scared and started saying this and that, this and that."_

_ "That's amazing," the other man said._

_ "Right? He's no match for me."_

_ The other man made a quiet sound of agreement. His eyes alighted on something. "Oh, yes… Would you like to have this?" He held up a sausage sandwich._

_ Arthur, surprised, stuttered, "Oh. Y-yeah, thanks." He took a bite and exclaimed, "Whoa, this is good! Do you usually bring luxurious food like this to the battlefield? Did a first-class chef make this?"_

_ The other man looked at him with a hint of pity in his eyes. "I made it. It's a common food in my country."_

_ "Oh, I see…" Arthur muttered, a wave of depression overtaking him. The scene faded, only to be replaced by…[3]_

_ A blond-haired man with a large bump on his head along with several scrapes and bruises sobbed on the bank of a river. Arthur stood in the river with another man, one with long blonde hair and stubble on his chin, both of them trying to catch fish. All three men wore old-fashioned clothing, with puffy trousers, simple vests, and, in the sobbing man's case, a puffy shirt as well._

_ "Come on, you two, please listen!" the sobbing man cried. "It's too cruel."_

_ "Hey, Finland, what happened?" the long-haired man asked._

_ "Did you take a big fall somewhere again?" Arthur asked exasperatedly._

_ "No!" Finland exclaimed. He looked away sheepishly. "Well, I built a villa in America with Mr. Sweden. But then Mr. Netherlands took it all away from us!"_

_ "Well, that must have been tough," Arthur said disinterestedly._

_ "Yeah, that must have been tough," the long-haired man agreed._

It'll all be mine anyway,_ they simultaneously thought. The scene faded again… [4]Arthur was suddenly seized by a sense of foreboding as the final scene fell into place around him._

_ A heavy rain pounded down around Arthur. He wore a red uniform with two white sashes crossed over his chest and pants tucked into tall black boots. In his hands he held an old-fashioned rifle with a bayonet attached to the end. He stood alone under the gray sky, facing a group of soldiers dressed in shabbier uniforms, with dark blue coats and the same crossed white sashes. At the front stood Alfred. He wasn't wearing glasses, but his blue eyes were filled with a steely determination. Thunder boomed around the tense standoff._

_ Arthur was filled with rage at the young man before him. How dare he defy his brother! How dare he rise up against the mighty British Empire! How dare he! Arthur trembled, from both his anger and the icy cold rain running down his back._

_ "Hey, England," Alfred said. It was not in his usual, boisterous tone, but in a serious voice that disguised his own frustration. "After all, I want freedom! I'm no longer a child, nor your little brother. I'll become independent from you from now on." As he spoke, his frustration made its way onto his face._

_ Arthur gasped lightly. It was out there now… there was no going back. For both of them. He fought to contain the tears welling up, and gritted his teeth before charging at Alfred. Alfred's shock was clear; he gasped and drew back slightly._

_ "I won't allow it!" Arthur shouted, bringing his bayonet up. Alfred put his own gun up in defense at the last second. There was a moment of stillness before the force of the bayonet flung the musket away, leaving a long scratch that would certainly be permanent._

_ Arthur was breathing hard, glaring at Alfred over the top of the gun. Alfred appeared to still be in shock; he stared dumbly at the blade pointed at his throat._

_ "Fire!" One of the soldiers behind him yelled. The blue soldiers lined up, muskets at the ready, but none of them fired. Everything was still but for the pounding rain. Then Arthur lowered his gun._

_ "There's no way I can shoot you, is there?" Arthur said, resignation in his voice. "You idiot!"_

_ Finally, his emotions spilled over. He dropped his gun and collapsed onto his knees, sobbing into his hands. "Dammit, why? Dammit!" _Why are you leaving me?

_ Alfred stared at him, sadness in his gaze. "England… You were so great once…"_

_ Thunder boomed in the distance. The rain continued to pour down as the scene faded to black…_

~.~+~.~

Arthur awoke in a cold sweat, gasping for breath. He sat up and looked around. It was still dark outside, the sliver of a crescent moon only just beginning its descent. He lay back down, but his dreams troubled him. They also made absolutely no sense. Who had invented an egg-boiling machine? What was that green, shelled creature in the pool? What was a "black sheep of Europe"? The scenes where even more confusing. Why would he have been wearing a red uniform? He wasn't in the army. And the other man with glasses had looked much older. A scrap of information resurfaced… wasn't that kind of red uniform once used by the British army? But that didn't explain why he had been wearing one. And the second scene… those clothes looked even older than in the first scene. And why was the man with the bump called Finland? Finland was a country, not a person. Right?

The last scene disturbed him the most. Even now, thinking back on it, he was swept with a wave of sadness. Alfred was in it… why? What did he mean, "_I'm no longer your little brother…I'll become independent from you from now on…"_ Was he related to Alfred? If so, why didn't Alfred remember disowning him? And, at the end, strangely enough Alfred had called him "England". Another country name being used as a person's name… and in that scene, he had also been in the red British uniform.

Maybe he had really just dreamt all of this. But how could he dream of the past (because that was obviously where the three scenes had been set)? And the scenes had been so vivid, so _real_, more like memories than dreams. Arthur yawned, the exhilaration from the dreams draining away.

_I should probably tell Feliciano and Alfred tomorrow_, he thought, ignoring the sudden nervousness that filled him. The last scene… Why…

Arthur fell asleep with his mind still swimming with questions.

~.~+~.~

Jason was just climbing down the concealed ladder behind the pillar in the Zeus cabin when he heard a few furtive knocks on the door. With some apprehension, he cracked the door open.

"Jason?" Percy's voice whispered from the darkness.

"What are you doing here?" Jason hissed back. "The patrol harpies will shred you!"

"So let me in!" Percy shot back. "We need to talk."

Jason opened the door just enough for Percy to slip inside. He led the way to the beds and plopped down on a mattress.

"So what was so important you had to risk death by harpy?" Jason asked.

"It's about those new kids, actually," Percy said. "Feliciano, Arthur, and Alfred."

"What about them?"

"Well, they're kind of weird, aren't they?" Percy said. "They show up unconscious outside of camp in the space of a few seconds. Nico said there was no one there on Will's watch but they were there when he got to the hill."

"Not only that, they were in military uniform," Jason recalled.

"Alfred's freakishly strong," Percy supplied. "I saw him in the forge."

"Feliciano's inhumanly fast," Jason added.

"And Arthur's magic is better than Miranda Gardner's, and he isn't a child of Hecate, as far as we know." Percy paused. "That's another thing. They're over the age limit, but they're not claimed. And have you noticed, sometimes, when you look into their eyes…"

"You get that feeling too?" Jason asked. "Like you're looking at something really, really, old?"

"Oh, good," Percy said. "I thought it was just me."

"Plus, their nationalities, too," Jason said. His mind was getting worked up, analyzing all the strange details about the trio. "Feliciano and Arthur sound foreign."

"Nico's Italian-"

"Yeah, but he doesn't have an accent, does he?"

Percy hesitated. "And… they've lost their memories."

Jason glanced at him. "Are you suggesting something?"

Percy nodded. "I think they are somehow involved with…" He hesitated again. "Um, let's not use names. I think they're involved with Her Majesty, though."

"Yeah, let's not." Jason tapped his knee, thinking hard. "So why would she send them here? That's the question."

"Last time, it was because our camps were about to go to war," Percy recalled thoughtfully. "She sent us as sort of ambassadors. Think it's the same this time?"

"That would make sense, except we don't know who they would be ambassadors _from_," Jason said. "And as far as I can tell, none of our campers have disappeared yet."

"But if that's really what He- I mean, Her Most Annoying Majesty is doing," Percy said, catching himself. Jason snickered at the nickname. "Does that mean that the rest of the 'enemy' we're fighting is like them?"

"I guess so?" Jason frowned. "But that would mean that the other side is also comprised of demigods, which makes no sense."

"I've been thinking about that," Percy said quietly. "What if they're not demigods?"

"They wouldn't have been able to enter the camp if they weren't," Jason reminded him. "Or even see the camp."

"I know, but Tyson can enter the camp, and he's a Cyclops," Percy argued.

"Annabeth gave him permission, didn't she?"

"Yeah, but…" Percy frowned. "I'm still getting the feeling they're not like the rest of us. Especially from Alfred. Have you felt it? Like you've know him all your life, not just two weeks or so?"

"Yeah, I have," Jason said. "It's strange, but lots of things about them are strange."

Percy opened his mouth to talk again, but instead let out a huge yawn. Jason patted his back. "Get some sleep, Percy. Maybe we can talk with Piper, Annabeth and the others tomorrow."

"Alright," Percy muttered sleepily. Jason led the way to the door, opening it just enough for Percy to slip outside with a parting wave. Jason waved back.

"Don't get eaten, Perce."

Percy yawned again. "I won't. G'night."

~.~+~.~

The next morning dawned bright and warm rather than cold. Arthur woke up earlier than usual, and was about to start the morning routine of bed-kicking when he suddenly remembered his dreams. He gazed down at Alfred's sleeping form.

_I'm no longer a child, nor your little brother._

Why did that bother him so much? Abruptly Arthur turned and left the cabin. It was just a dream. There was no reason for it to have such a strong, lingering effect.

He decided to go for a walk by the forest to clear his mind. The air was clean and sharp, and the heat was warm enough to be called "warm" but not so hot that it was uncomfortable. Not many people were awake at this time, but the little animals were already hard at work, birds singing to each other and flapping through the leaves, squirrels and chipmunks racing through the boughs. Arthur strolled along casually, trying to ignore the dreams, which were just as clear in his mind as they were when he first had them. Absentmindedly, he wove his hands in a series of patterns, creating an illusion of a rabbit with little feathery wings, glinting a light green color in the sunlight. The rabbit fluttered around in a few loop-de-loops, and a smile crept onto Arthur's face. For some reason, the rabbit felt comforting, like an old friend you could always go back to.

"You can do magic?"

The voice startled him. He spun around, the illusion fading.

The girl who had spoken was a Hunter, one of the ones that had arrived the previous day. She had electric-blue eyes and freckles across her pale skin. Her hair was spiky, in a "punk" style, and a silver circlet glinted within the spikes. She wore silvery camouflage, and she held a bow in her hand.

"O-Oh, yeah. Yeah, I can do magic," Arthur said.

"Child of Hecate?" the Hunter asked.

"No. At least, I don't think so."

The girl raised her eyebrows. "You're not claimed?"

Arthur shook his head.

"That's weird," she mused. "You're what, seventeen?"

"I think so?"

"You _think_ so?" she repeated.

"I kind of… er… lost my memory," Arthur admitted.

"Huh. You're a funny one." She held out her hand. "I'm Thalia. Daughter of Zeus and Lieutenant to Artemis."

Arthur shook her hand. "I'm Arthur. What are you doing out here so early?"

She waved her hand dismissively. "Just some early morning hunting to clear my mind. You?"

"Same," Arthur sighed. "Clearing my mind."

"Why, something happened?"

"Just some dreams."

"You want to talk?"

Arthur glanced at her in surprise. "I thought you Hunters don't hang around males."

Thalia grinned. "Not usually. It's not forbidden, though. And you look like you need someone to talk with."

"Is it that obvious?"

"Not really. But demigod dreams are usually something to worry about. What happened in them?"

"Well…" Arthur hesitated, unsure whether to confide in Thalia or not. She seemed like a trustworthy person; of course, she'd have to be, if she was a goddess's lieutenant. But the dreams felt _private_ somehow, making him reluctant to talk. In his moment of hesitation, a voice yelled, "Artie! Hey! Whaddaya doing?"

Arthur had never felt more relieved to see Alfred than now. "Alfred, don't call me Artie!" he scolded.

Alfred stuck out his tongue at him, grinning. A sudden flash of irritation hit Arthur. He was used to Alfred's antics at this point – and today the fifteen-year old was acting no different than normal – but his dream still hovered in the back of his mind, and Arthur, for a reason he couldn't understand, was irritated at Alfred's _insubordination_. Which made no sense, because Alfred had never been his subordinate in the first place. Right?

"Who are you?" Thalia asked.

"Oh, sorry, Thalia. This is-" Arthur began, but Alfred cut him off.

"I'm Alfred F. Jones, the hero of the world!" Alfred shouted excitedly, striking a pose. Arthur facepalmed while Thalia just looked amused.

"Hero, huh?" she said, a small smile on her face. "We'll see what you can do, then." She nodded to Arthur. "See you." Then she bounded off towards the Artemis cabin, Cabin Eight.

"Who was that?" Alfred asked, calming down a little. "She looked like one of those Hunter chicks."

"That 'Hunter chick'," Arthur said, a little irritated, "is Thalia, Artemis's lieutenant. Show a little respect."

Alfred gave him a hurt-puppy look. "I didn't know!"

Arthur sighed. "Whatever. Where's Feliciano?"

"Waiting at the dining pavilion, as usual," Alfred replied. "I think he wants to invade the kitchen or wherever the food gets prepared."

"As usual," Arthur said. "Let's go, then."

They trudged down to the pavilion as the conch horn sounded. Campers stumbled from their cabins and satyrs came out from the woods. The sleepy atmosphere soon dissipated, though, when the Hunters arrived, chatting and laughing together like a family. Arthur counted about fifteen Hunters.

Feliciano waved them over to the Hades table, where Nico was already sitting.

"_Buongiorno_, Arthur!" he chirped. "Where were you? I woke up and you were gone!"

"Just taking a walk," Arthur said, sitting down.

"With a Hunter!" Alfred piped up, a mischievous grin on his face.

"Not _with_ her, you idiot!" Arthur snapped, his face flushed. "We just met at the edge of the woods."

"Yeah. _Just met_," Alfred snickered. Feliciano grinned. "Ve… was she pretty?"

They continued to bicker over breakfast until suddenly Chiron stomped his hoof. "Quiet, please! I have a message coming in!"

"A message?" Feliciano said confusedly. "I thought electronics don't work in camp."

"They don't," Nico said. "That's an Iris-message."

"What's that?"

"You'll see."

The dining pavilion quieted as an image shimmered into being on a spray of morning mist. It was of a girl with dark hair and serious eyes, wearing armor and a purple cape standing next to a muscular Asian guy, also with a purple cape.

"Greetings, Reyna, Frank," Chiron said politely.

"Hello, Chiron," Reyna said. "We're just letting you all know we should be arriving late today."

"Where are you now?" Jason called from his table.

"Eastern Massachusetts," Frank replied. "We had to take a detour around a hydra nest. The Second Cohort is taking care of the hydras right now."

"Very well, we'll prepare for your arrival," Chiron said. "Do you want to set up camp in the same area as last time?"

Reyna shrugged. "Sure, that will work."

A girl suddenly ran into the image. She had dark, curly hair, chocolate skin, and amber eyes barely visible through her helmet.

"Reyna, Frank! The Second Cohort sent a message for reinforcements. Should I take my cohort-"

Frank held up a hand. "Just a sec, Hazel. Sorry, Chiron, gotta go now. See you later." Reyna swiped her hand through the mist, cutting the connection. The campers broke into excited chatters.

"Who were they?" Arthur wondered.

"They're Romans," Feliciano said.

Alfred raised his eyebrows. "Aaaand… how did you know that?"

"The style of the armor," Feliciano replied. "And the 'cohorts' that they mentioned."

"Feli's right," Nico broke in. "That was Reyna and Frank, the two praetors of the Twelfth Legion. The girl that ran in was Hazel, the centurion of the Fifth Cohort."

"Twelfth Legion?" Arthur asked. "What happened to One through Eleven?"

"They disappeared when Rome fell," Nico explained. "The Twelfth Legion, which is made up of demigods like us, is the only one that survived. They're coming here to join the battle."

~.~+~.~

The day passed with considerably more excitement and gossip floating through the air – literally, since even some cloud and wind spirits had dropped by to pass the same message on to the resident nymphs. By the time the sky started turning orange most campers weren't even doing camp activities anymore, and instead stood in view of Half-Blood Hill, chatting with their friends and maybe half-heartedly having a friendly spar or playing volleyball. The anticipation in the air was almost visible; many campers were eager to catch up with their Roman friends.

Feliciano stood by Thalia's Pine, scanning the fields outside of camp. He'd offered to pull sentry duty only because of… a feeling. But not really a feeling.

"Well, it's _like_ a feeling," he said to himself; he'd been standing there watching the sun go down for more than an hour already and he'd started talking to himself around the forty-minute mark. "But it's also not really a feeling. It feels like a thread. Yes, like a connection to something! Ve~"

He smiled, glad he had figured something out. "But, if it's a thread, why am I feeling it? If one end is tied to me, where's the other end? Hmm…"

He'd been feeling the thread all day. As the sun's descent turned the sky orange, the feeling of being connected only grew stronger. It was like a yearning in his chest, tugging at him, urging him to go seek out the source, as if he was one half of a whole and his heart was reaching to his other half. Someone was out there that Feliciano wanted to go to.

Another half hour passed, the feeling growing stronger… stronger… suddenly, there was movement on the highway – or rather, lack of movement, for one of the cars had suddenly stopped. Behind it, a line of identical cars lined up. A screech tore through the air, and Feliciano gasped when he saw a flock of giant eagles, still far away but drawing steadily closer. A sudden revving of car wheels brought his attention back to the cars; they were now turning off the road, heading toward Half-Blood Hill. To Feliciano's surprise, a tan blur shot in front of the cars, leading the way to a grassy field. The blur revealed itself to be a powerful tan horse with an armored rider on his back. The rider waved to him.

The Romans had arrived.

Feliciano grabbed the sentry horn and raised it to his lips, and blew three long blasts across the valley. Meanwhile, the Twelfth Legion had climbed out of the cramped cars and began to unpack equipment, pulling out of the trunks everything from swords and armor to long poles and shovels, from normal cloth banners to a large golden eagle on a pole: the legion's standard.

The "thread" suddenly felt like it had gone taut. Gazing out over the assembling legion, Feliciano was certain that someone in there was tied to the other end. But how, and why? Something niggled at the back of his mind. The feeling felt familiar somehow, with that sense of maybe having felt it before, maybe not. But it was growing stronger.

Feliciano turned to look back down into Camp Half-Blood, where the Greeks were gathering. Then he looked back at the Romans. At the Greeks. At the Romans. It was incredible, to see the two gathered armies, even if said armies were made up of teenagers. And he stood right in the middle, bridging the divide on Half-Blood Hill, connecting the two sides.

"Hey, Feli!" Alfred called, jogging up the hill with Arthur behind him. "Are they here?"

"Ve, of course they are…" Feliciano pointed out at the legion, but trailed off when his gaze met a legionnaire's green eyes. It was like the string had been sharply tugged. Feliciano sucked in a breath, eyes widening. The legionnaire stared back at him in surprise, and Feliciano was certain the other had also felt the tug. They were connected, and now Feliciano could finally identify that connection and where he had felt it before.

"Feliciano, are you feeling all right?" Arthur asked, turning Feliciano to face him.

Feliciano, still stunned, could only stutter out a short reply. "Yes… Arthur, _him._"

Arthur's giant eyebrows furrowed together in confusion over his narrowed eyes. "Him, who?"

Feliciano was suddenly struck by a sense of terror. He had to get away from Arthur. Away from danger. That face… when Arthur looked like that… that meant bad things. That meant _danger._ And when danger approached, Feliciano runs. He stumbled backward, trying to put some distance between them, only to bump into Alfred.

"Whoa, there, buddy," Alfred said, supporting him. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I don't know, he seems to be ill," Arthur replied. "Feliciano, are you feeling sick or tired?"

Feliciano didn't answer, because at that moment the thread pulled taut, quivering like a bowstring. Behind them, a shout came from the Romans. Feliciano spun around, seeing a legionnaire run up the hill toward them. Alfred's hand, still gripping his shoulder, tensed. "What does that guy want?"

"He wants…" Feliciano couldn't seem to form the words. Tears welled up in his eyes at the _rightness_ of getting closer to his other half. "He wants…"

The legionnaire skidded to a stop in front of them. For a moment, they stared at each other, brown eyes into jade green. Then the legionnaire lifted his helmet. Feliciano broke into a huge smile.

"Brother!"

Feliciano's tears spilled over as they embraced, sliding down his brother's armor to splash onto the ground between the two halves, reunited into a whole at last.

* * *

_All dialogue is taken from the Japanese sub version of Hetalia._

[1] Axis Powers Episode 20 Sub, right before [5]

[2] England with the kappa, can't remember w/hich episode

[3]Axis Powers Episode 39 Sub - War of the Austrian Succession, second episode

[4] World Series Episode 13 Sub – Battle for America, first episode

[5] Axis Powers Episode 20 Sub – America's Cleaning of the Storage, Part Two: American Revolution. One line was omitted from the episode: _This is why I say you don't follow things through to the end, you dummy._

* * *

***dodges rotten tomato***

**Okay, guys. I lied. Canada didn't show up. I meant for him to show up, but...**

***gets beaned by beans***

**...it just turned out this way.**

***gets potted by a pot roast and knocked over***

**I'm not dead, guys, and neither is this fic! I really have to give you all a huge apology: the main reason this took so long was that I was lazy. I procrastinate a lot; even now, I am procrastinating on my homework. So this chapter was extra long (4,858 words without Author's notes, disclaimer, and title) as part of my apology. A special shout out to:**

**Katgirl, for pointing out "why aren't Percy and Jason suspicious?" and inspiring the third scene.**

**SeaShellSakura, for supporting and encouraging me.**

**And to all you readers, for patiently waiting so long. Thanks so much for all your support, comments, constructive criticism, and suggestions!**

**Next chapter will begin Part Two, which will follow Canada, Romano, and the Romans!**

***bows and promptly gets hit by a tomato***

**See you all... uh... sometime! Hopefully soon!**

_**Edit 6/11/16 The line break did something weird... it cut a sentence in half. Sorry if you thought this was an update, but I had to fix it.**_


End file.
